The Love of Angels Fallen
by Kyd Fizziks
Summary: Naraku is defeated, or is he, but a shard is missing, and the answer of where it is comes from a very unlikely source... Then things go on from there. Loads of plot twists and turns! I suck at summaries, plz R&R!
1. The Dream Sequence

THE DREAM SEQUENCE  
  
Inuyasha was sitting in one of the sturdy branches in the great tree when sleep took him. Inuyasha started walking through a field looking for Kagome and her scent was all over the place then he saw a body in the grass. He ran over to the body and sniffed the body, it didn't look like Kagome, but in fact it was... "M-Mother?" he said, as the lady got up and looked up at him and smiled.  
  
"Yes my child, it is me, your mother." She smiled then she walked over to him and hugged him. "Son I have met your mate, Kagome is a great miko she's so much like me when I was younger and will make a great mate." She smiles up at him while still hugging him.  
  
Inuyasha stares down at his mother wide eyed "Mother, how did u know about Kagome? He looked at her then thought, "she was here earlier huh?"  
  
His mother looked up at him and smiled nodding in assent. "Kagome's with your father right now." She smiled and watched him, as his eyes grew big again out of surprise.  
  
***  
  
Kagome at the same moment was on the back of a great Inuyoukai, when the great Inuyoukai suddenly stopped at a waterfall and motioned for Kagome to get off his back. She complied, landing not so gracefully, and falling to a knee to keep from falling flat on her face, and stood to face the youkai. The great Inuyokai transformed into his human form and looked like Inuyasha, he looked at Kagome and sat in front of her just like Inuyasha does and he said, "I am The Great Inuyoukai, Inuyasha's father, I know who you are child. You are the beautiful miko Kagome, my sons mate, has he mated you yet, Kagome?"  
  
Kagome blushed at the straightforward comment, and said "No he hasn't yet..." she gave off a heavy sigh, her form, and words, collapsing on itself momentarily, then straightening to her full height after a second, "I kind of wish he would do it soon."  
  
Inuyokai looked at Kagome and smiled, and said in a voice that was smooth, yet deep, much like Shesshomaru's 'that's the only thing that sets them apart, is their tone of voice' she thought quickly, "Are u sure your ready Kagome? Do u know that u and Inuyasha and your pups will be hunted by humans and Demons?"  
  
Kagome gave the Inuyokai her, "I-know-I'm-totally-aware- of-that" look.  
  
Inuyokai looked at Kagome and said joyfully, his words bubbling up with a slight chuckle, "I'm glad you know Kagome cause your mate would be very worried, now let return before your mate worries." Inuyokai, began to glow white for a moment, then he was suddenly back in his dog form and motioned for Kagome to get on his back. She nodded, slightly stunned, and hopped up, and they flew through the gossamer strands of dreams back to Inuyasha and his mother.  
  
They arrived and were greeted by Inuyasha and his mother. Kagome then got off Inuyoukai's back after the inuyokai sat down, and then he turned into his human form. Inuyasha looked at his father; giving the all to familiar look he had whenever he took a serious punch to the gut, his father looked just like him!  
  
The great inuyokai looked at his son and smiled and said " Hello my son, Inuyasha come here and give your father a hug." Inuyasha complied with a nod, stepping forward into the embrace and then feeling his footing slip, and felt his father hold him tight, whispering, "don't forget" ... he woke with a start. Looking around quickly, Inuyasha muttered softly, "Man that was weird, I saw mother that I know, but was that my father?" Inuyasha began to think, and thought to himself 'I felt everything that happened, even being hugged by my father! It's so weird!' He had a decision to make, to tell Kagome what he wanted to tell her, or to hold it to himself alone... 


	2. New Aquaintences

The Love of Angels Fallen By: Kyd Fizziks and Eincrow  
  
'Yeah,' he thought to himself, 'Yeah, I'll tell her.'  
  
Getting up from his perch in the god tree and jumping down onto the soft grass below, the young hanyou Inu Yasha got up and dashed off into the forest in search of his, well, companion, Kagome.  
  
'She isn't your mate yet, don't think like that!' he admonished himself. Catching her scent, he was taken in by the tantalizing smell that was her. She smelled clean and fresh, just like wild flowers and other beautiful and wonderful things. He dashed left, and there she was, sitting under a tree, away from their camp on the edge of a small clearing.  
  
"Kagome!" he called out to her, not wanting to startle her by just popping up before her. After him telling her that every noise may have been a demon she had finally gotten the point.  
  
'I need to do this right,' he thought. She looked up, smiling at him, overjoyed at the arrival of his company. She had always felt close to him, there was just something about him, beside the fact that he was a half demon with the body of a god! She felt a little surge of energy in the pit of her stomach at the thought. A small tremor of excitement washed over her, and she tried her best to cover it up.  
  
"Oh. Hi, Inu Yasha!" Standing, she walked towards him. 'Oh shit! Here we go!' raced through his mind.  
  
"Um. Kagome? I have something to tell you." He trailed off; his eyes darted from Kagome with difficulty, over to the edge of the clearing to his left. And there, hidden by the spring leaves until that moment, his golden eyes met two pairs of small bright green orbs, glimmering in the darkness.  
  
He stared, awestruck, as one, and then another demon, shorter than the first by six or seven inches, entered the clearing. The first one held himself to a bit of a regal air, looking down on the hanyou with a bit of distain in his expression, his crème puff of a tail twitching out from behind it.  
  
The second had rich, dark crème hair reaching almost to her feet. An asset when compared against the many forests of which she came from. Her eyes were a light brown. Her clothes were practical, wearing nothing loose or hanging to get caught by a branch when leaping from one to the next. Right now, for she changed with the landscape, she wore soft, brown, leather boots with swaths of dark green cloth wrapped around them. Moss colored pants, poofing out slightly, were tucked into them. Her shirt was form fitting, showing a quite obvious bust, and definitely not reflecting the times but a smarter decision than the usual wide kimono sleeves. Its face was softer, and calmer that the first, who held a whisper of nervousness inside with the situation at hand. "Identify yourselves!" barked Inu Yasha. "Kagome, stay behind me" he said softly.  
  
"Stand down pup! We'll get to that!" Said the male gruffly, commanding tone present. This male strangely reminded Kagome of a jumbo version of Shippo, well a little more mature version, of course.  
  
*** Back at camp***  
  
Shippo was rummaging through Kagome's much-abused backpack. Things were thrown out, landing in a heap, as he searched for what we all knew was his addiction: candy. But a scent reached his small curious nose that made him pop right out of the bag, and look wildly around.  
  
It was so close! 'But it can't be! Their dead!' His eyes darted about. 'I have to make sure!' And with that, he barreled into the trees to the left of the god tree clearing, a blur of brown and crème fur.  
  
*** Back with Inu Yasha and Kagome***  
  
"Look pal! I'm not playing games! Who are you, and what do you want!" Inu Yasha yelled across the clearing, his golden eyes glinting.  
  
"I thought I said to stand DOWN!" Finishing his sentence, he made a thrust with his right paw which hurtled Inu Yasha sideways into a nearby tree with a resounding *THUD*.  
  
"Insolent little whelp!" The first stranger muttered. At this point, the second creature, Kagome guessed was the previous male's mate, judging by the aura of closeness they shared, approached.  
  
"Are you the young miko, Kagome?" She asked, her voice a breathy alto. Looking into the demoness' brown eyes, Kagome snapped out of her stupor.  
  
"Um. yeah." She responded simply.  
  
"Oh, now you've." Inu Yasha's voice issued from the badly beaten tree from her right, which Inu Yasha had been forced to be very friendly with these last fifteen seconds, but it was cut off by a loud squeal from behind her followed by the blur of fur that was Shippo.  
  
"Grandma! Grandpa!" he cried, jumping into the female's arms, which folded quickly over the ball of fluff.  
  
"Oh! Shippo!" She hugged him close. "It's been too long. I've missed my only grandson." The female said quietly and with emotion almost blocking the words in her throat.  
  
Looking down at her grandson, a small tear escaping her eye, pride at the gleam of courage the little Kitsune had picked up since last they met. It seemed that the arrival of Shippo made the male drop his authoritative air, for one of a fun-loving teenager.  
  
"Hey Shippo! How are you, Grandson! I see you've been keeping these two in line?" He chuckled. Kagome just stood by, staring, mouth hanging open slightly, utterly blown away by this family reunion.  
  
"Yeah, Kagome has been great! She's been all nice to me and everything, and Inu Yasha was okay, even if he beat me up sometimes." His voice turned into a little annoyed growl at the end but it did not last. "But okay all the same!" responded Shippo excitedly to his estranged grandparents.  
  
"Oh, that's right, Kagomeeee!" Shippo squealed out, with even more excitement. Kagome snapped out of her shocked stare.  
  
"Huh?! What is it Shippo?" She enquired, stepping forward to see what the little fox demon wanted. She had done it for about a year now, hadn't she? She was almost. his mother.  
  
"Kagome, I would like you to meet my grandparents! This is my Grandpa Cali and my Grandma Naja!" Each of the beautiful fox demons nodded as their names were mentioned.  
  
"He's. our son's son." Said Cali, inclining his head, ruffling the kit's red hair. It still hurt to talk about his son's fall to those lightning brothers, not to mention the fall of their entire clan while they were away...  
  
"Speaking of sons." Cali's eyes latched onto Inu Yasha. "Come over here. I think we may have interrupted a very important thing between you and Kagome." Cali said, his voice brightening.  
  
"Ah, young love!" Whispered Naja to her mate, a smile causing dimples to appear. The color drained from Kagome's face, LOVE? Did Inu Yasha actually love her?  
  
'But. no, it has to be Kikyo, but. well, I love him, and if he loves. *gulp*, me, then, could he be ask.?' Her thoughts stopped immediately as did her heart, almost, as she felt a pair of coarse hands encapsulate hers.  
  
"Um, Kagome?" Her brown eyes suddenly locked onto his golden orbs.  
  
'They are so beautiful,' she thought to herself.  
  
"You don't have to ask, the answer is yes, I'll be your mate." Now, if he was expecting an answer, that wasn't it. He almost fell backward, his head was spinning, this had to be a dream, and it was too good to be true!  
  
"You. you will?" he stammered.  
  
"Yes." She said, smiling. Several things happened in rapid succession after that.  
  
"Well, ya gonna kiss her or not?" Came the gruff voice of Shippo's grandpa from behind them, followed swiftly by Naja growling "Cali!" a sharp *WHAP!*.  
  
"Ow! Sorry!" Cali replied softly. Then a huffy "You'd better be!" Then silence as they awaited the fateful first kiss. 


	3. Family Reunion and a new pair of mates

Chapter 2  
  
Looking into her eyes, Inu Yasha was overcome by a feeling of rightness. That this was what was supposed to happen was never a doubt in his mind. Everything blurred around him except for her beautiful face and the feeling of her thin shoulders beneath his palms. And as he leaned forward, blood rushed to his head in happiness, the feeling of her soft warm lips beneath his making the entire moment that much greater.  
  
He slid his palms down her arms to rest upon her waist and her arms crept about his neck. Pulling her tightly against him, he slanted his lips over hers, deepening it, before pulling back dazedly, as a sharp noise continued to tickle his ear.  
  
Looking over in annoyance, Inu Yasha was embarrassed to remember that they had an audience. And most defiantly an appreciative one, as the he realized that that noise that he had heard was the new pair's clapping. Both he and Kagome turned red.  
  
Smiling and chuckling at the couple's discomfort, Cali looked down at his mate's dimpled face and Shippo's wide-eyed one.  
  
"Naja! You let him WATCH." He began to take Shippo out if her arms. Naja allowed him to do so, but frowned.  
  
"He has to learn sometime. Besides, it's not like their doing anything other than kissing." Naja stepped on tip-toe and kissed his nose. "Don't worry, dearest. You won't miss out on any fun." She said, a gleam in her eye, before she turned and went over to the pair to discuss the reason they were there in the first place.  
  
This left Cali alone with Shippo, to perhaps discuss the time they were apart. Approaching Kagome, Naja asked Inu Yasha to please, if he would, go away.  
  
"Why?" He asked annoyed in his usual pissy manner, he did not want to leave his new 'mate' alone, especially to some creepy demon strangers, somewhat rude ones at that.  
  
"Because I said to." She turned her light brown eye on him, a look any male would stay away from. Turning her back on the hanyou, Inu just stared and gave a small whimper of protest.  
  
Naja immediately whipped around, her normally smooth face contorted in a vicious snarl. Inu Yasha gave a yip, stumbled back a bit in surprise, and then quieted. Turning his back on her, he skulked away in submission to the older more experienced demon. Deciding it wasn't a good idea to fuck with them, he didn't push his luck. With Inu Yasha back in line, Naja turned back to Kagome with a small frown on her face, sympathy radiating from her.  
  
"Dear," she began, placing her clawed hands upon the much shorter human, "Congratulations! But you know in your heart that he will outlive you, and he will be left behind with the hurt and loss of his mate." At this Kagome looked up, a pained look in her eyes, and a tear escaping from it.  
  
"I've learned to live with it, but the time we spend together will be happy." her voice broke, and another tear leaked from her eye.  
  
At this Naja lowered her voice, saying "worry not, child. You won't die and leave him alone for hundreds of years, not if I can help it, anyway." Kagome's eyes stop watering, her heart suddenly filled to the brim with hope.  
  
"What do you mean?" she asked, if she meant what she thought she did...  
  
"Here, drink this!" the demon said excitedly, as she took out a flask of dark red fluid, which strangely reminded Kagome of.  
  
"Blood?" she was shocked, if this meant she had to drink someone's blood...  
  
"Yes, but this is special blood! Dog demon blood! This is used to change humans into Inu hanyou! The effects are permanent and there are no side effects, well, if you don't count physical changes as "side effects..." These words sent Kagome's mind racing, 'if this worked, then Inu Yasha and I would be equal, a balanced couple, I could feed myself, fend for myself, and not be such a burden on Inu Yasha. Instead of getting bashed around, I'd be the one doing the bashing from now on, or at least have a fighting chance!'  
  
She gave her an inquisitive stare, "why me?"  
  
Naja chuckled, "Hun, you think we wouldn't repay you for taking care of our only grandson, do you? Well, you're being silly, of course we'll repay you, and this is it, with taking on the life of a hanyou with your mate"  
  
In the midst of this discussion, Cali walked over to Inuyasha, with a slight smirk on his face. He stood a foot away from Inuyasha and, standing up straight, looking the younger demon in the eye, spoke, "I believe I could be of assistance to what your new mate seeks, it will be a bit better than her method."  
  
he leaned up right next to his ear and whispered "she's a wee bit touched in the head, but I don't mind."  
  
Just as he finished, Naja looked over her shoulder and said in a voice so low only demons could hear, "uh huh, happy, content and crazeh!" Cali looked over to his mate and smiled. She smiled back, then turned back to Kagome to continue her conversation, Cali turned back to find Inuyasha slightly farther away from him than before.  
  
"Here" he said, thrusting his hand within his upper kimono, drawing out a pink glass shard of the shikon jewel. Inuyasha gasped, as Kagome froze suddenly, "Inuyasha! I sense a." "I know Kagome, Cali has it." The dog demon replied to the concerned miko. At the mention of Cali having a jewel shard, Kagome rushed past Naja, whose sanity she was beginning to doubt. 


	4. Warming Up and Getting Dinner

"Success!" Naja and Cali cried in unison as the limp form of Kagome was lowered to the ground and the purple glow in the clearing faded.

The miko hit the ground with a soft "FLUMP" as the soft moss of the small clearing they had used to conceal it from Inuyasha cushioning the blow of her fall. Her hair, which seemed to be longer now, all the way down to her upper thighs, seemed to be an jet black carpet lying out beneath her, as if she had planned to bed down there for the night with a black silk tatami mat. Her canines had popped out during the transformation, quickly being replaced by very sharp fangs, which were pearly white, just like her new claws, but they were now red, the same as the nail polish she had put on before the journey. It looked like a ladybug pattern now, as the growth of her nails had cracked and split the polish. She also seemed to have gained a bit of height, as well as width at her shoulders, her muscles seeming to be enlarged, toned to a very fit, sleek look for her. Her eyes had changed as well, from their dark grey, to Inuyasha's light amber. Her chest, as well, had seemed to grow outward, making her much more of a curvy figure. All in all, she was a truly stunning half demoness, even enough to rival a full female youkai's beauty.

Looking upon the now transformed Kagome, Naja smiled. The happiness that radiated from the young miko was contagious. Inu rushed to Kagome, alarmed at the sudden change in smell that he picked up from where he was, just outside of the clearing. However, when he finally caught sight of her, he stopped, mouth opening and closing, eyes widening.

"Ka. Kagome!" He stuttered, one clawed hand reaching out slightly before falling back to his side. Kagome, excited and happy, stepped quickly towards him, her movements quicker, more sure and graceful.

Throwing herself into his arms, she felt him stumble back a little at her sudden strength. His arms wrapped automatically around her, sheltering her from sight with his sleeves. Natural for both, they fit each other just right, her face nestled in the crook of his neck. Inu's clawed hand reached up to stroke her head, and to trail his fingers through her thick locks. His hand was suddenly impeded by her newly appeared fuzzy ears, he took a moment to stroke them lightly, and felt more than heard a purr escape Kagome.

Kagome pulled back a bit, and Inu's hand fell back to his side. Amazement was quite prominent in her face as she spoke, her lips trembling a bit as she seemed to be trying to remember how to make words come from her lips.

"That felt…nice…" She said simply, looking up at him. Inu grinned, reaching up and continuing the gentle petting, making her shiver in his arms as he teased her ears with his fingertips.

Turning to her mate and Shippo, Naja smiled down at them both.

"Come dears," she whispered. "We've outstayed out welcome. We don't want to impede the progress of this young couple."

"But Grandma, all they they're doing is-" He started.

"Shhh! Shoo!" Naja cut him off, giving him "the eye" as he stared hard at the little fox.

Shippo sighed, and scampered a distance away, before looking back, in wait for his once again found family. He didn't want to lose sight of them so soon after he had gotten the back again. He was so lucky! He had family again, even though he had the group it just wasn't the same as blood kin.

Naja's attention, now that Shippo was safely away, moved over to her mate.

"Impede progress eh? I love how you word things." He glanced over at the new couple, just beginning to discover each other, then leaned down and softly licked his lover's cheek.

Naja smiled softly at the sight. "Reminds me of old times," she said softly under her breath, which had caught just slightly in her throat at the endearing lick.

Cali gave her a letch look and a slightly perverted grin. "Old times… Let's add to those times, hmmm?" Taking her hand in his both turned contentedly away from the couple.

"Sure honey," she replied, kissing him on the nose once again, giving it a small nip as she pulled away, then licked his cheek in response, a soft smile on her lips.

Cali grinned in anticipation. "Just as soon as visit the rest of the group, get situated, bathe our grandson, and catch enough game to feed what will be two very famished hanyous, There young human friends and three demons." Cali's grin deflated a bit as he began to realize something.

"It's… my turn… to hunt… isn't it?" He cringed. If there was one thing he hated doing, it was hunting. He had never, ever been good at it, and Naja had been hounding him about it ever since they had gone on their first hunt together.

Naja grinned wickedly at him. "Yep! That's right!" Walking quickly away, she left him with a wave. "Don't be too long dear." She added, looking up at the sky absently as she walked.

Cali just stood there for a second, before rushing after her. "Honey! WAIT!" he cried, tripping over himself a little as he tore after her.


	5. The First Few Tender Moments

"That felt..nice." Inu Yasha grinned down at her, taking a step towards her, bringing them to touching.  
  
"Yeah, I like it, too." His hand came back up. To the side of her face, the pad of his thumb stroking her cheek. Kagome smiled softly, revealing the tips of two fangs peeping out. Eyes closing at the feeling of his rough thumb upon her skin, her hand lifted to rest lightly on his.  
  
Inu Yasha gazed his fill of the expression on her face, and the newness of her look. Still herself but more like him. Though her tresses were the same length as before, the strands seemed to have thickened. Become wild as if the demonic blood now within her gave her mane a life of its own.  
  
Her nails had sharpened into claws, almost white in their thickness. They glinted in the dappled sunlight, shiny with the clear nail polish she had applied but that morning. Otherwise.She was the same as before. Uniform and all, looking slightly odd on what to all intents and purposes was a hanyou.  
  
And now. Now this girl was his. And he was hers. Feeling as if everything were coming together, he leaned forward wanting to taste her again, feel her lips beneath his. Once was just not enough...and he had the feeling it never would be.  
  
***  
  
She couldn't believe her good luck. This was she, Kagome, standing before the dog hanyou, Inu Yasha. And she was now a hanyou herself.  
  
No more school. No more tests, then she practically gasped, 'No KIKYO.' No growing old while Inu Yasha looked on in despair and probably some disgust.  
  
A moment of sadness overcame her, and a tear gathered in the corner of her eye. Her family. Inu's lips brushed against hers in her moment of inattention, startling her pleasantly from her thoughts.  
  
The kiss ended as it had begun. A light brushing of lips before Inu Yasha leaned back to view her again wonderment taking over his mind as he finally absorbed what had taken place. Once more pulling her tightly against him, her head tucked under his chin, he looked into the forest he had lived in so long, and felt, finally, at peace.  
  
"Inu. Yasha." Kagome sighed the name.  
  
Inu Yasha's ears flickered at the sound. Kagome's hand moved naturally from her side up his chest, where it stopped to rub light circles against the cloth of his haori. Inu felt warmth flood through his limbs at her motions. Purring a bit, his eyes closed briefly.  
  
"Hmmm..?"  
  
"Inu Yasha... Aren't we, umm.Supposed to do more?" Kagome's face reddened at the question slightly and she buried her face in his haori. Inu Yasha went still.  
  
Slowly, as if to someone he did not want to run away, he asked quietly, "Are you ready? DO you want to? I won't make you do anything you don't want to do."  
  
What anxiety she may have had disappeared with his soft words of assurance. "I want to Inu Yasha. I don't want to hold anything back from you." She hugged him closer still, as if to signify that the closeness she still had yet to be.  
  
"Ashiteru Kagome." Inu Yasha said, holding her just as close.  
  
Tingles went through Kagome at the words. Time passed like this for short or long time. They didn't know their attention on the other and the felling of being in each other's arms. Something they had both wished for oh so very long. But contentment at just that soon grew into the need to touch and feel.  
  
Kagome's circling hand slid into his haori, bringing her slender fingers closer to the warmth of his skin. Inu's hands slid up from where they were wrapped around her waist, to slide up and down her back. Sometimes slowing and stopping at her waist and rubbing lightly at her sides.  
  
Kissing the crown of her raven head, and blowing lightly on the little hairs within her ears, he trailed his mouth softly over her forehead. She shuddered at the feel of his breath in her ears, and they flickered before pressing against the hair of her head out of reaction. Smiling, Inu leaned back to kiss her fluttering eyelids closed, before paying attention to her lips once more.  
  
Kagome made an unconscious noise deep in her throat at the feel of him against her. A low purr emanating from Inu Yasha was the response, as he pulled at the cloth of her uniform top, loosening it from her skirt, and sliding his hands it, felling her soft skin against his palms. His tongue slid out slowly, exploring, across her closed mouth, the tip tracing the edge of her lips. Kagome inhaled, her mouth opening slightly at the sudden wave of heat that went through her.  
  
Inu took advantage, sliding his wandering tongue between her lips and against her teeth, making sure not to press against her newly acquired fangs. Kagome leaned into it, her own tongue shyly reaching out to his, her hand sliding down and opening his haori wider, the palm of her hand pressing against his muscled stomach.  
  
Inu's own slid up to cup her face as he delved more deeply, tasting her mouth, before pulling out and panting and brushing up against her lips again and again. He let the pad of his thumbs rub the base of her ears. His reward was her purr of pleasure. Kagome left his lips to kiss his chin, before the urge to lick came upon her. Letting her tongue slide along his jawline as her hands slid below his shirt where it met at his chest.  
  
Inu shuddered at the feel of her wet tongue on his skin and leaned into it. Licking her lips, she pressed them damply against his neck. Panting, Inu ran his fingers up to her ears, rubbing and stroking them as heat worked within him.  
  
From her flushed face and half lidded eyes, he knew she was just as affected as he was. Kagome's lips moved down slowly, bathing his skin with her tongue at times. The wetness cooling as her breath passed over it.  
  
Impeded by his haori, Kagome made a noise of impatience. The hand that had been massaging his stomach curled around the hem of his shirt and began tugging it up.  
  
Knowing what she wanted, and wanting it as well, Inu stepped back and let his fire-rat kimono fall to the ground before unwrapping his undershirt and letting it fall to the ground as well.  
  
Kagome watched in avid fascination. The time for embarrassment had passed along with the stolen glances at his profile when he was looking away. 


	6. Like a Pro note: lemon warning

***  
  
To Cali's relief, Naja helped him with the hunting. Leaving Shippo with Keade and Sango, after, of course, they explained who they were. (They almost had to dodge Sango's Hiriakotsu, but as she raised it, ready to fling at them, they hastily explained their relationship to the small kit.) They talked about how things were, about how the gang had defeated Naraku, and how the couple had spent their years in solitude.  
  
After dinner, Cali crept up behind his mate, and whispered in her cocked ear, "Naja, I have something very special to show you." He drew back as Naja turned to see him wearing his usual slightly lecherous smile.  
  
"What are you up to?" the female fox said, turning her head and looking him over with a slightly untrusting eye, a purr unsuccessfully suppressed.  
  
He raised his paw, putting a claw under her chin and scratching softly with it, "you'll just have to find out, now won't you?" he said, his voice going slightly husky as she continued to let out the very soft purring noise increasing as she began to loosen up and let her feelings take over her misgivings. He began to walk backwards, still holding her captive with his scratching claw.  
  
*** Inuyasha watched these actions from the God tree's upper branches. He gave a sniff, "Feh. He actually knows what he's doing." He watched in fascination as the forms of Cali and Naja disappeared beyond the tree line, and he could have sworn he saw Cali look over at him and wink.  
  
*** He continued to lead her through the trees of Inu Yasha's Forest, as a certain scent was getting stronger. "If this works, this is going to be one wonderful evening for us!"  
  
Naja's nose caught a very familiar scent as her eyes widened, 'he's aroused!' Naja's grin was widening into a devilish smirk at the very thought of what they were going to be doing tonight. They hadn't mated in several days; they had been traveling night and day for four straight days, following their grandson's trail.  
  
"Where are you taking me, Cali?" The demoness said, her voice also going husky as a small spring was coming into view behind Cali's back. "Don't you remember, Naja? Think now!" Cali's face fell at her not recognizing the place he had brought them to, and ceased his scratching.  
  
"Well, I might be able to think straight if you would keep your hormones in check for a minute!" she sulked as she started to look around the clearing, thinking hard. After a few seconds her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates.  
  
"Oh! Cali! You actually found it! All by yourself?" Cali looked as if his dreams had come to fruition,  
  
"Yep, I just had to follow my nose, how could I forget the scent of this place? This place so very special to us? Naja, you remember what we did here, right?" he asked, looking right into her light brown eyes with his piercing bright green ones.  
  
"How could I forget, Cali, this is where we had our first time together." Looking back to him to confirm this story, Cali nodded.  
  
"That's right Naja, and what was I doing beforehand, hmm?" He questioned, a mischievous smile crossing his lips.  
  
Naja giggled, "You were spying on me bathing, you pervert!"  
  
His smile widened, "I remember watching you, Naja. It was like watching a goddess, the water trickling down your front, your nipples pert with the cold."  
  
Her face reddened, "Cali! It was cold during that spring, you know that!"  
  
Cali was grinning ear to ear by the time he spoke next, "Well, I seemed to had cleared that problem up that spring night, now didn't I?" Naja grinned back,  
  
"You most certainly did." As she trailed off, she began to wrap her arms around his waist, as he put his paws on her shoulders, rubbing softly.  
  
"Ashiteru Cali", she whispered as her lips approached his.  
  
"Ashiteru Naja" he replied huskily, seizing her lips with his. She gave a moan, which he echoed as his paws began to explore the familiar territory, the pads of his paws creating a delicious friction with her skin. Her hands began to move as well, a little lower, and into the front of his pants. Her mate gave a jolt as and shook slightly as she caressed him where he needed her most.  
  
"You're hard for me aren't you Cali?" He nodded, distracted and flushed, as her fingers and hand ran glidingly up and down his length.  
  
He swallowed as his eyes fluttered shut. "Always for my mate, my one, my other half...You." His eyes opened once again, intense and brimming over with emotion for the love of his life in every line of his face, as his hips pushed himself up harder against her hand. Naja melted against him, holding him closer still to her, though he would always be within her heart, the closest place of all...  
  
Movements stilled, warmth enveloped them, slowing their breathing and heartbeats. Silence seemed to gather around them, and in that silence, both could hear their hearts. Resounding as one, beating in time together, as they were, always together.  
  
Cali gave her neck a tiny nip, "care for a dip, Naja?" Naja looked slightly concerned. "Don't worry dear, I already told Shippo that we won't be back tonight, were um.... keeping watch."  
  
She gave a small laugh and began, he voice laced with a chuckle, "in a spring a couple of miles away?"  
  
Cali always loved how she would make him work to get what he wanted from her. "1 mile is not very far. Anyway, Inuyasha has proven himself more than a match for any demon that's come his way,"  
  
Naja gave a small grin; he wasn't going to get his was that easily. "But HE is busy too" she protested. Cali sighed, and responded.  
  
"Don't worry, hun, anyway, Inu Yasha will catch our scent and he'll play it cool, and Shippo knows what it means to make love now, Inuyasha and Kagome's scents are all over the place by now. He'll know what it means."  
  
Naja gave a small laugh as Cali continued. "That pup has been holding himself back for a long time Naja."  
  
He gave her neck another nibble, "c'mon, dear. One dip wouldn't hurt. Anyway, did we not rut our first time in this same spring?"  
  
Naja gave another laugh, "persistent, are we? Well, I guess one wouldn't hurt."  
  
Cali's eyes brightened as he maneuvered behind her and moved one strap of Naja's shirt off of her shoulder with a claw, "oh, and by the way, happy anniversary!" he said as he lowered his mouth to her slender neck and began to torture it; licking, nipping and kissing up and down the soft flesh of his lover.  
  
She sighed and leaned her head sideways to give him better access. His paws then wrapped around her waist and began to explore her body, with just as much enthusiasm as their first time, 75 years ago. His paws cupped her breasts through her shirt, one claw moving higher stroking up and down the nipple very softly, as she let loose moan of pleasure, to which Cali gave an energetic growl in reply.  
  
"Do you want me to help you with those clothes, dear?" Cali whispered as his mouth moved up and began to kiss and suck on her earlobe, flicking his tongue over it. He could feel her trembling in his arms as his hips made a small thrust into her back.  
  
"I think ill take care of them myself, thanks." Replied Naja in another hoarse whisper, as she broke from Cali's grip, and turned to face him. Reaching her own hands down her sides, she grabbed the hem of her form- fitting shirt and pulled it up over her head, exposing her well-sized breasts to him, making them bounce a few times, now free of their confinement. Immediately Cali ran and tackled her playfully, kissing the newly exposed flesh below him, her shoulders and the valley between her breasts.  
  
Naja put up a bit of a fight, "CALI!" was about all the resistance she could muster before she stopped and realized what he was going to do, which made her emit another moan of excitement. 'I love it when he plays with. mmmmmm.' Naja thoughts turned to mush as she watched her mate lower his mouth to her pert nipple. At the first suck, her hands moved down to his shoulders instantly, "Cali." she whispered dreamily.  
  
He popped the nipple out of his mouth and looked up at her, "Yes?" he replied, smirking, so his fangs were prominent.  
  
"Care for a dip?" She replied, smiling wickedly.  
  
***  
  
Hours later, darkness had fallen over the two lovers in the hot springs, the quarter moon right above them, as the stars twinkled benevolently. Cali and Naja were locked in a lover's embrace, Cali above her, his hips moving at a slowly increasing rhythm as Naja's head thrashed from side to side.  
  
"Oh Cali. yes!" she whispered, looking up into his eyes as her hips began to meet his thrusts. The ripples coming from them hitting the edge of the hot springs in shorter and shorter intervals, and getting higher every minute.  
  
"Do you like that, Naja? Do you like how I make love to you? How I mate with you?" Cali questioned as he began to thrust as hard and fast as he could. "Cali!" she moaned, "Harder! Faster! Deeper please Cali!" It did not take long until Cali moved to her neck, where he had marked her 75 years ago, and bit down hard. This sent Naja over the edge as she clamped down over his erection and cried his name to the night. After a few more hard thrusts, Cali found release, letting his seed pour inside his lover. After a few seconds, Cali's arms gave way, and slumped onto his mate's chest, covered in sweat, and panting heavily. Naja stroked a claw through his hair. "Mine." she whispered softly. Cali looked up and smiled. "Mine." he replied, as he lay his head on her bare chest, took in a deep waft of her scent, and closed his eyes, smiling.  
  
*** 


	7. Man To Man Conversation

Cali's Story Kyd Fizziks 

The Next Day.

Inuyasha watched curiously as Cali paced slowly in front of him, twiddling his claws nervously. Earlier, he had politely asked if Kagome would let Inuyasha and him have a "man-to-man" talk. Of course, she agreed, and now Cali and Inuyasha stood in a small clearing about two miles from camp. Suddenly, he stopped his pacing and drew beady green eyes up to meet the younger demon's golden orbs.

"Inuyasha, I think I should tell you that just to repay you for helping Shippo was not the only reason I came here." He said slowly. He had decided that this man to man talk wouldnt exactly be long winded, but he wanted to keep it fairly brief, short and sweet.

At this, Inuyasha's ears flicked up attentively, ready to hear anything, no matter how bizarre. "Well, I think it all begins with your father."

Now Inuyasha's eyes were wide as saucers. "You. you knew my dad?" he said, dazed. Cali chuckled.

"Who didn't know your father! Well anyway, he had asked me, before he died, to do him a huge favor." Inuyasha's heart was racing, he would finally have another piece to the puzzle of his childhood.

After a few seconds, Inuyasha had to break the ice, "which was?" he asked tentatively.

"Well," Cali said, taking a deep breath and sighing slightly, "he asked me to, when you found a suitable mate, help you out. You know, give you a social outlet. Help you create connections in the youkai aristocracy."

Hearing this, he scoffed, "anything else?"

In response, the older demon growled "and to help you with the future pups, and help you train them and you!"

Inuyasha blinked rather idiotically, "train me? In what?" he asked.

"In how to be a good father." Cali replied simply, "he also asked Naja to help out as well."

Inuyasha smiled, this was almost funny.almost. "So, wait a second! My father thought so little of me that he thinks I can't raise my own pups?" he shouted angrily at the fox demon.

"Hey pup! I would do anything for your father, he was my best friend and I was his until the end. I took some serious wound for your father, if it wasn't for me, you would not exist, so show a little respect!" Cali shouted back, his face reddening in anger. At this show of force, Inuyasha backed off a bit.

"Sorry about that, Cali." he said, his head inclined.

Inuyasha felt the weight of the other demons paw on his shoulder, "it's alright, I understand. But he kinda babied you, to be honest. He always wanted the best for his sons, and he turned to me to do this service for him, and I gladly took it, do you remember me at all? Because I definitely remember you! I haven't done so much transforming in one day ever since I visited him to strategize the war against the north, in which your father, unfortunately perished. I was at his side when he died." At these words, his eyes slightly fogged. 'This demon had stood by his father and fought beside him.' He thought, he could imagine it, his father speaking his last words, 'Cali, remember to teach Inuyasha to be a good father, as you were a good friend.' Then, watching his eyes close in his mind almost made him want to scream in despair.

"Hey pup! Pull yourself together! We've gotta move on, leave the past behind." He said, trying to draw Inuyasha out of his temporary misery.

Cali then sniffed the air and smiled brightly, "Besides, by the smell of it, lunch is ready!" He said brightly, suddenly jumping into the trees and off towards camp.

"How bout a race, pup? Last to camp hunts for dinner!" he said as he suddenly disappeared.

"Well, this is gonna be fun!" Inuyasha muttered, flying through the trees at top speed.


	8. The Dream and a Premonition

The Dream Kyd Fizziks  
  
*~* Evening near the god tree *~*  
  
It had been a very long day, and now sitting on one of his usual branches, Inuyasha looked down at his mate, curled into his lap, sleeping soundly, her cheek resting against his chest, a smile playing on her lips. He examined the steady rise and fall of her chest and smiled, 'it had been a very rough afternoon of hard mating for us, so my Kagome has every right to be tired,' he thought, his smile widening. He tore his eyes away from his sleeping mate, and looked around the clearing. Inuyasha perceived that Sango and Miroku were nowhere to be found, 'I think I know what their up to,' he thought with a grin. It hadn't been too long ago that they admitted their feelings to each other, and he was very glad that those two had finally gotten together. After another minute of searching, he could see Cali and Naja sleeping in different branches in a tree on the opposite side of the God-tree clearing. 'I guess Cali and Naja decided to take the night off,' he said mentally as he smiled yet again. His smile faded after he watched Cali sleep for a minute. He was tossing and turning, his lips making soundless words, his face strained with something like pain. He pondered this for a minute or two, and decieded, finally, to get some sleep. 'I can't wait until tomorrow,' he thought as his mind closed down and he finally slept.  
  
*~* Cali's Dream *~*  
  
He was in a tent, the silk of the covering billowing slightly in the light breeze. The smell of blood reached his nostrils, a very familiar smelling blood.  
  
"Inutashoi" he said urgently. There was a great great dog, lying on a cot, on the side of the tent, blood dripping from the cloth that had taken up the blood of his almost innumerable wounds.  
  
"Inutashoi! Stay with me!" he tapped the dog's face a few times with his paw urgently, trying to rouse the dog. The dog cracked one eye open, and its golden gaze fell upon him.  
  
"Ah, Cali. I'm glad you are here. You were always there when I needed someone, always. But, today is my last day, and I have a few final requests." He said in a cool, calm voice.  
  
Cali waited for a few moments before putting his paw on the Demon Lord's mighty shoulder, "what is it, my friend?" he asked curiously.  
  
Inutashoi gave a laugh and then winced in pain, "Cali, you were always a curious little fox, but now I need you to be serious and hear me out. Firstly, don't bury me here, away from my loving mate and pups." He said, his voice rattling slightly in his throat, his time was coming.  
  
He tried to rise, wincing once more as Cali kept him down with his paw, "you don't want to move, Inutashoi. Just stay still," he said soothingly.  
  
After a few seconds, the Demon Lord settled, as Cali gave a sigh of relief, and said softly, "Is there anything else, my lord?"  
  
"Well," Inutashoi said nervously, "I would like to ask you to help my youngest son, Inuyasha, when he is of age and finds a suitable mate,"  
  
The dog gave Cali a pleading look, "please do this for me Cali, make sure that he is as good. a father. as you are" he said, the final words coming out in a harsh rattle. His chest rose once, twice, and then all the air escaped his chest in a rush, as his eyes glazed, half open.  
  
"Inutashoi?" Cali questioned after a few seconds of silence, "INUTASHOI!" he yelled into the demon's ear. Nothing happened.  
  
"NO!" He screamed to the sky, "NOOO!" he broke down completely, sobbing uncontrollably,  
  
".nooo! WHY!" he yelled into his paws, covering his face. The image began to fade, the screams getting softer, until all was white and silent.  
  
*~* Back In Reality *~*  
  
Cali woke with a start, covered in a cold sweat, panting wildly. "W. what?" he stammered, as he remembered the dream, he felt his insides shaking with agony. That was the worst day of his life, after the day he received the news that his entire pack had been destroyed. He hopped off the branch, not wanting to show his weakness to his new acquaintances, and ran to the hot spring he and Naja had been at the night before. He quickly stripped and got into the soothingly warm water, and looked up into the sky dotted with stars.  
  
"Inutashoi, if you can hear me. could you help me in this repayment, and show me the right way to go?" his voice trailed off, as if waiting for an answer. To his utter bewilderment, his old friend's bodiless voice issued from the forest around him.  
  
"Cali, you are my best friend and ally, would I turn away from one of your requests, even in death? Of course I will help you teach my son the ways of being an honorable man." The voice seemed to get farther and farther away as it spoke, a Cali just sat in the water, completely dazed by what had just occurred. 


	9. Back to Kagome's Time!

It's been a long time, I must say, and I welcome back my loyal readers (all 7 of you) to another installment of "The Love Of Angels Fallen"! 

Chapter 8 "Back to Kagome's Time!"

I cracked an eye as I felt Kagome get more comfortable against my chest, her head in the crook of my neck, but then taking my by surprise as she actually gave it a small kiss and opened her eyes and smiled a dazzling smile up at me, showing off her new fangs, of which I had already memorized the texture and taste. Wonderful was the only word for it.

"Good morning, hun!" she said in a soft, drowsy voice, "did you sleep well?" She gave a small yawn as she opened her beautiful gold eyes and looked ever so cutely up at me, then snuggled closer to me, grinding her rear end against my "morning wood" teasingly, causing me to chuckle nervously as I licked her neck gently.I looked into her eyes, 'yep, there I go, I'm hypnotized again.' After a few seconds, I was able to finally break the heated optical exchange, and got out what I had been pondering for the last hour. "Kagome, we're going to have to tell your family about this." I felt her tense against me, but I was able to counter it by sending my dearest mate a wave of mental calm, in which she relaxed and nodded slightly against my chest.

I got up, taking up my mate in my arms, with a small yelp of protest from her, "Well, I believe we have to go see your family," I suggested, as I sprang from the branch, leaving it quivering in the breeze. I hoped that this was going to go well, I had seen her grandpa's reaction to my very presence, and I could only guess what he was going to do when he found out that her granddaughter was now a half demon. 'Well, were gonna have to find out now, aren't we?' I wondered as I leapt from branch to branch with ease, leaving them quivering from my sudden impacts. I reached the well clearing, and looked into Kagome's eyes from my lap. Her eyes held a fiery determination that reminded me of the good old bona fide Kagome.

"Well, let's go then!" she said a little to cheerily. I gulped, dreading the expected veil of tears that might cover her face if this didn't work well. I spotted Miroku and Sango in the woods, also, after a second, I spotted Cali to my right, only his green eyes giving away his position, and his hand giving us the thumbs up, I smiled, and she inquired as to why I had just smiled. I gave a quick "Feh!" and rushed over and hopped into the well...

Well, next chapter will be coming soon, so keep posted!


	10. The Foxes Give Chase!

On with the story then! 

Chapter 9: The Foxes Give Chase!

After Kagome and Inuyasha had disappeared from view within the well and the bright flash that had interrupted the semi-darkness of the dawn had faded, Cali turned around to his mate and stated simply, "they're gone, dear."

Naja raised her thin eyebrows, "and why is that so important?" she asked, curiosity growing as she watched the cogs begin to turn in Cali's mind. She watched as his grin began to widen, until it was almost spreadto his ears.

"Because, by what Miroku and Sango have told me, Kagome and Inuyasha are the only ones who can pass through the well, right?" he questioned. He had an idea, an idea so ingenious that his head would explode if he could even begin to know what he was talking about.

"Cali, what are you up to?" Naja asked, still growing more and more curious as to the nature of the conversation.

"Well, I was thinking, can the well discern imposters from the real thing?" Cali continued, raising his eyebrows, as if trying to convince her. Naja's eyes widened slightly, 'he doesn't mean...' her thoughts were interrupted as he began to change form. She loved watching him do this, it was so different from her own transformations, with a small pop, she became something else. But Cali's was different, his was more of a morphing type of thing, that took only the span of a few seconds, but at least he never made the mistake of keeping his fox tail. She watched in awe as his paws changed into hands, with pearly white claws gleaming in the spotty sunlight of the forest, his hair changed from its deep brown to a striking silver, and it grew down to near his rear end. His nose shortened slightly, and Naja, Queen of the Shifters Pack, was now looking Lord Inuyasha in the bright hazel eyes.

"Well?" he asked in Inuyasha's barky voice, as if expecting praise. Naja simply laughed, "it's worth a shot, isn't it?" Then, in a small pop, the human Kagome Higurashi was looking her mate right in the eyes. "Well, come along! Let's give it a try!" and they marched, arm in arm towards the well.

They entered the clearingthat contained the Bone Eaters Well just beyond the village limits,and looked over at the crumbly structure. Naja looked over to her mate and saw that he was sweating slightly, she leaned up and whispered in his ear, "nervous, are we?" Cali just looked at her without moving his head, and just gave her a small "Feh!" This caught Naja completely off guard, and she simply stared at him, 'hun, you're getting way to far into character!' she thought as he ran and jumped into the well. There was a bright flash, then nothing. 'Looks like it worked! Ok, here I go!' she thought gaily as she ran and jumped down the well.

She had entered into a vast expanse of blue in which, straight ahead, she saw a humanoid form silhouetted against what looked like a painting of a roof as seen from inside, with stone walls on each side of the picture. 'well, this is weird,' she though as she watched the human meld into the picture, and then look down into the rift, holding his hand in for her to grasp. She reached out as far as she could, and finally her hand's grip met his arm, and with a small whoosh, she had left the field, and was now sitting on her mate's lap, whose back was against one of the stone walls she had seen earlier.

"Looks like it worked, babe!" He said jovially as he got to his feet, putting his arm under her armpit to pull her up with him. She noticed for a second that the hand that had grasped her earlier was now back to a basic paw, the paws that she loved so much, that belonged to the demon of her dreams. With another pop, she was back to her old self, and they bothbegan the arduous task of climbing out of the well, without Inuyasha'sagility to help them out, a shill cry of, "KAGOME'S BACK!" making them flinch as Cali swung his leg over the lip of the well, Naja reaching over and pulling him off, hugging him gently as she whispered, "mmm... you smell great, compared to this place..."

Cali shook his head quickly, mouthing "not yet, later" to his mate, looking up to the open door before them. Intruiged, he walked out into the brilliant sunlight, then crouched behind a low wall, seeing a confrontation about to erupt in the courtyard ofthe HigurashiShrine.

Ok, I know it isn't that long, but it's the best I could do at the moment! See ya soon!


	11. Day of Reckoning

Disclaimer: OK! OK! I DON'T OWN INUYASHA! 

Chapter 11: Day of Reckoning

Souta's sudden shout had made my ears flatten themselves against my hair, and that gave me an idea to hide this little problem. One problem, I didn't know how to control them! I looked over to my mate and tried to silently plead with him, mouthing "HELP ME HIDE MY EARS!" While he looked at me like a stupid baka, then he took his fingers up to my ears and forced them down one at a time with his forefinger, and adjusting my hair over them. I gave a sigh of relief, 'at least I don't have to worry about those anymore.'

Kara, my mother, came out of the house, smiling and waving, but giving me a sideways look, 'I think she knows something is up' I thought. Then I watched as she gave a pointed look at the area directly between us. I looked down and saw what she was looking at, our hands clasped together. 'Oops!' I thought abruptly, smacking myself mentally and letting go of his hand quickly, giving my mother a small smile not trying to reveal my fangs. Then, suddenly was a voice behind us, "excuse me, but I think you may want a hand with this, pup." Inuyasha looked like he had just seen a ghost, turning around to see Shippo's grandparents right behind us. How the hell did I not smell him!

My mate looked down and sighed, "Can I ever get away from you two?" He was blushing violently as he said this, making mereach over and pullhim gently tomy side, makingmom raise an eyebrow atus, asmall smile creeping onto her lips.

The fox gave a small chuckle and simply replied, "nope!"

Inu's pov

Thank the gods that Cali has some negotiation skills! If he wasn't there, it could have gone a lot worse than it had! Cali had helped us out incredibly, explaining exactly what a mate was, and always working to placate Kagome's Grandpa and Mother.

With gramps, it didn't go very well, seeing that he was throwing those damn dysfunctional ofudas at us for about an hour, Cali, Naja and I looked like those "pin-ya-ta" things that Kagome had shown a picture of to me a few weeks back. With koi's mother, it went a whole lot better, Cali's words, sometimes interrupted with sticky paper, kept her calm and understanding.

Souta, of course, didn't mind, but was talking about how we were gonna be best friends and brothers, and play "video-games" for the rest of the week. Typical Souta.

All in all, they approved, and had invited us to stay for as long as we liked. The first thought that came to my mind was that I could get all the ramen I could eat, but it seems that Cali had the same thing on his mind, going through 17 bowls of ramen soup! That left me quite amazed, I can tell you! The funniest part of that dinner was that Naja always seemed to try and slow him down, actually trying to take the ramen away from him. That... was a bad move, seeing as afterward, there was ramen all over the place and we were all on the floor laughing at the hilarity of the situation. Now its night, I sit on my mate's bed as I wait for her to finish her shower. I wonder what she's thinking about anyway...


	12. Show Her Fun

Disclaimer: OK! OK! I DON'T OWN IT! I DON'T OWN IT!  
  
*~* Chapter 12: Show Her Fun! *~*  
  
* Inu Yasha's Point of View *  
  
I look around my mate's room, taking in my dearest one's glorious, sweet scent with my nostrils, and examining the things on her desk and on the room's walls. As I look at the corner of the desk, something immediately catches the light, sending it flickering back into my eyes from the harsh light of the desk lamp. Intrigued, I plant my hands firmly against the feather soft bed, that I'll never let her know that I actually prefer sleeping on it than in any tree, and push upward, forcing myself up to examine this little trinket.  
  
The shiny middle is surrounded by black wood, it holds only her scent, no one else had ever touched this, except for some unknown trace scents, but her scent overpowers those. In the middle of the wood is... me... posed rather comically in the Goshinboku tree, Tetsuiga on my shoulder, eyes closed. 'She must have taken this when I wasn't looking or asleep, and for that...' I feel my face contract into a wry smirk as I think about all the things I can do to Kagome as punishment for this little intrusion. I finally come to the conclusion that Kagome and I need to see each other... right now.  
  
Mechanically, I jump over to the window, open it quickly, and jump down to the ground level, around the side of the house and sniff out the bathroom window. 'There!' I yell mentally, as I leap up and dig my claws into the side of the house, pulling one pair out to slide open the window and swing myself in, and accompanied by Kagome's sudden gasp and shocked "Who's there?" Trying my hardest not to make a sound, I creep over to the wall next to the shower, to avoid Kagome's now scanning eyes.  
  
I can't take the stress any more, (and mind you, I've got nerves of iron); I sigh, defeated, and start to take of my hairoi. I can almost feel her relax; I know she has caught my scent. She knows I'm here. She gives a small scoff and asks coyly, "Inuyasha, what are you doing?"  
  
At this I simply chuckle, "getting a shower, what else?"  
  
I can smell her scent becoming more and more alluring as I strip, she wants me, I can tell. I finally free myself, after some difficulty due to a certain "something", from my pants and pull the door open. It is a strange little door, made of glass, but you can't see through it, odd. Kagome, to my surprise, gives me a very perverted little smile, that bears an uncanny resemblance to the grin of a certain monk I know, as she turns to face me, running a hand up my side as I enter the small, steamy room, making me quiver with excitement.  
  
I want her. I want to have my hands all over her body, and she knows it. 'Well...' I think quickly 'first lets get washed, then have a little fun' at the end of this train of thought I can feel the right side of my lips kick up in a lopsided smirk, to which she gave me a very dubious stare. I run my hand down her side gently, and slide behind her and begin to assault her neck with a barrage of kisses, nips and licks, biting the mark I had left on her a week ago time and again. I can feel her shiver with need in my arms, 'okay, the wash up comes second!' I think as I am starting to lose my train of thought to the feeling of my hard member against my mate's smooth, wet back, the feeling of her body against my chest, and her taste.  
  
She is beginning to moan my name in frustration; I could hear its echo in the small room, mocking us as I start to kiss her shoulders, slowly turning her in my arms. She is facing me now, looking up at me, pleading for me to keep going, her new jet-black ears giving a soft flutter, face slightly flushed. I give her a small smile and dip her down into the stream of water coming out of the showerhead, water now running in swift rivulets down her body. I gently kiss her right breast, then nibble, bringing out a harsh moan from my mate. I smile at her as I take her pink nipple into my mouth. I hear her gasp in pleasure as she throws her head back even farther and moans my name harshly. I begin to slowly continue the regimen for her neck, suck, lick, and kissing her nipple until it was rock hard, contracted into a tight mound, which made her give a small gasp at each manipulation. I reach my hand up and fondle her other breast, the large, creamy orb giving under my fingers as I detach from her nipple and look down at her.  
  
She is the dark beauty I had always loved, her dripping wet ebony locks hanging down into empty air, her back arching far back, and only her new found demonic ability to balance is actually keeping her from falling over, breathing shallow breaths as she is trying to recover from the intense sensations I have just given her. And now this beauty is mine. All mine. Not Kouga's, not Shesshomaru's, not Hobo's, but mine. I marked her, its official. Kagome is mine!  
  
I run my hands down her sides in a sweet and gentle caress, trying to help her calm a little as I kiss lower, always observing my mate as I get slowly to my knees, allowing her to get up from that very uncomfortable position. I kiss even lower, dipping my tongue into her navel, causing her to give me an ecstatic giggle. I make my torturous way lower, burrowing and nuzzling into her dark curls, causing her giggle to get higher in pitch and louder in volume, but that suddenly turns into a cry of desperation as I give a kiss right next to her throbbing heat. I look up at her, smile and decide to finally give her what she wants. I see her ears are flicking faster than a "light switch" as my tongue comes in contact with her heat, I can feel and see her legs struggling to keep her from collapsing. I give her another lazy smile, then circle my tongue around her entrance, slowly adding additional pressure to it as I narrow the circles.  
  
My mate is panting heavily now, she wants it, she wants me inside her, not later tonight, not in five minutes, she wants me right now. I give her a small smile as I finally break through and plunder her rich, honey sweet core, bringing out cry after cry of pleasure as the minutes pass. I can feel her insides tightening around my tongue, then suddenly rushing out in a small scream of pleasure from my goddess, and a stream of heat from her core into my waiting mouth.  
  
I took my time in cleaning her as her cries of climax turned back to moans of relief and contentment. I slowly climb back up her body, delivering feather soft kisses to her neck once again, biting her mark, leaning up, and muttering in her ear, "Ashiteru, Kagome."  
  
She looked up at me and gave a small giggle, though it sounded garbled by the afterglow of the orgasm, and looked rather comical saying with heavy lidded eyes "Ashiteru, Inuyasha."  
  
'Hold her close, hold on and don't let go' is the only thought running through my mind now, and I'm so centered on it, that I almost missed Kagome's light chuckle and seductive whisper, "now its my turn!"  
  
I can feel her pushing me back gently into a corner, and the next thing I know, my legs run into something, plopping me down unceremoniously onto a cold, tile bench in the corner. I give her a slightly curious look, which is quickly wiped away by an almost idiotic look of bliss as I feel her hand wrap around my shaft and begin to pump gently. I give a soft moan as she runs a clawed hand down my chest, feeling my nipples tighten as the tips of her claws graze over them. I feel my hips start to thrust in tandem with Kagome's gentle strokes, then she stopped.  
  
I look down into her face to see why she had, and only saw her locks of hair spread over my thighs, and her twitching ears as she breathed a hot, steamy breath over my erection. I bucked my hips wildly, how could she have know that I had had this dream since before we were mated, in fact, ever since I first had a "modern" shower.  
  
I felt her tongue lash over my tip gently, causing me to give off a strangled "Kagome!" of a moan, then I feel the best feeling I ever felt besides being inside Kagome, and as I watch her take me in her mouth, I can feel everything inside me tighten. Then she began to suck gently, sliding her tongue over my rock hard shaft and sensitive tip (which always makes me cry out in pleasure), I feel it tighten more, and more, until I feel like my legs are going to stick together, that's when I feel the surging in my blood, as I unleash everything I have into her, bucking my hips up hard, making her fangs scrape against my shaft, throwing me over the edge of oblivion in a shout of "Kagome!!" and then just pure relaxation.  
  
I watch Kagome clean up what she had missed, then lean up, and start to clean my chin, and grin as I feel her tongue enter my parted, panting lips. After our tongues battled it out for about a minute, tasting each other, we broke for air, and just held each other, held each other until the water went cold, then my mate got up, turned off the shower, and handed me a towel. I gave her another wolfish smirk as I warned her, "don't worry hun, im not even close to done with you yet!"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ How do you like that folks, a good old fashioned lemon? Well, this is Kyd Fizziks signing off for tonight, so long everybody! Don't worry, this doesn't mean im not continuing this fic, im just tired tonight! And a huge thank you to KenshinOtaku for actually giving me an excellent idea, (And yes babe, I love ya), of the shower scene. 


	13. UH OH

The first thing she felt was something pressing against her back, making her feel... good, for some odd reason, then a tough patch of skin on her smooth stomach and an arm, a strong, yet gentle one, around her waist. She sighed, snuggling back into the warmth of the something, grinning as if she had just found a hut with a blazing fire during a snowstorm. she felt the rustle of the sheets as she snuggled back... against her bare skin... in some very personal places... which meant she was...  
  
"EEEP!" Her eyes shot open and she leapt up from the bed out of the grasp of the something, then turned to see the thing had silver hair, cute little puppy ears, and that gentle peaceful look of sleep of our favorite little fella with puppy ears (AN: NOT SESSHOMARU! SORRY FANGIRLS!). This look was suddenly ripped apart by a cavernous yawn, as the love of her life opened his gorgeous amber eyes, she smiled, and mentally reprimanded herself, "It's only Inuyasha, Kagome, calm down! Jeez!" She set her fond gaze upon the young man, only half awake in her, no, thier bed and thought back, back to all the looks, wry grins and rare smiles he had given her ever since she met him on that fateful day, when the jewel came so unexpectedly into her life.  
  
The jewel. Those two words unlocked a wealth of memories, sights, sounds, faces, and Inuyasha. Inuyasha. The man who she started out hating, but even in the beginning, she saw something in him, something pure, good, unable to be tainted by the vices of humankind. She grew to love him for that little spark of good in him, that little spark of humanity that she carefully helped nurture, and help grow through trust, devotion, and... and love. She loved him, and she knew that totally know. There was no denying it. 'I love Inuyasha'.  
  
"Inuyasha," she whispered under her breath. It was a truly beautiful name, Inuyasha, at least to her it was, anyway. Inuyasha looked up, question written in his eyes and all over his face, as if he were about to ask in his very annoyed tone, 'what wench?'  
  
That expression vanished after about one tenth of a second before he looked as if he were a puppy goggling at a rather juicy steak, his eyes wide, a look of awe changing his facial expression faster than a set of traffic lights. "You aught to wake me up like this more often Kagome!" She looked down and, to her utter horror, realized that in her haste to "escape" from him, she had completely forgotten to cover up.  
  
Now that she thought about it, she gave him a lookover as well, and a small smirk covered her initial look of mute horror. "Same here..." she replied, her voice honeyed with a seductive tone as she turned around and shook her rear at him, as if taunting him with it. She turned to face him and found him drooling. It was simply too cute for her to handle. This made her laugh out right, her gentle, high laugh ringing like a bell, clear and chiming, through the small bedroom. She took a small whiff of the air and smiled. 'Pancakes! YES!' she thought with glee, not knowing that she had made a critical mistake in her analysis, but letting the four mystery scents downstairs slide for now.  
  
"Inuyasha come on! were having something awesome for breakfast!" She called from the far side of the room, picking up the towels from their shower last night, thrown aside in the midst of the previous evenings "activities".  
  
Inuyasha's head perked up, he didnt even bother to sniff at all. "RAMEN?!" he gave an ecstatic cry of glee, as he started to drool once more. She shook her head, smiling 'he is such a child!' she thought bemused.  
  
"No silly, its pancakes! theyre great, I know you'll like them!" she said sweetly, her words given a little extra honey. At the word "no", Inuyasha's face fell, as it always did when he was denied his favorite food in the world. He gave a simple "oh", then whipped back the sheets as it was Kagome's turn to gawk at her godly hanyou. That's right, hers. Not Kikyo's, hers. Forever. She smiled at that, then though, 'yeah, forever. Just me and you boy!' She watched as he threw on his under kimono, then his trademark fire rat haroi and hamaka.  
  
She herself slipped into a pair of skin tight jeans, to Inuyasha's protest, and to Kagomes horror as he said "that ass is mine to look at and no one elses! you are so not wearing that!" so she shied away from the jeans and went for the more conservative route, as in red sweatpants and a baggy red t-shirt with a little blue kitten on the front, with the words "too cute for you" written under it. She gave herself a look over, and thought "with Inuyasha, red is of course the obvious choice, but red with me? I just dont know, but we shall see!"  
  
She gave him a mock huffy look and snapped, "Are you satisfied now, ass-owner?"  
  
He simpy smirked. "Damn right about the title, and yes, I am satisfied!" She sighed in defeat. 'He's hopeless, but I love him anyway!' she thought, then opened the door and took his hand.  
  
"Shall I escort you to breakfast... ass-owner?" she said coyly, and in the pause, she had taken his hand and put it smack on her rear end, letting him get a good feel of her quite desirable hindquarters. She brushed her actions aside with a simple thought going on the lines of, "hey, we're mated, so i can be as perverted as i want!' She grinned, and thought "I'm getting as bad as Miroku, maybe even worse Kami forbid!" She removed the hand from her rear, and began to lead him down stairs. They were both grinning to the point of having sore cheeks as they walked down the stairs into the living room, right in front of the four people Kagome did not want to see right now. Her first thought, echoed mentally by Inuyasha, "oh shit!" Three girls and a guy were sitting in the living room, all in school uniforms, the young man looking especially dazzling in the black shirt and slacks.  
  
There was a gasp from the three girls as their eyes widened, then they started screaming their heads off about how cute they looked and stuff like that, then one of the girls went for one of her puppy ears, thats when Inuyasha stepped in. "Please back away from Kagome, she's not in the best of..."  
  
A hand was quickly placed over his mouth, then Kagome whispered gently in his ear, "Dont worry, Inuyasha, I'm not hiding in a web of lies anymore, I want to tell them." Inuyasha gave a small nod, then backed away promptly once he was released, as the questions came in an unbelievable barrage of the girls high, shrill voices that nearly blew her eardrums out.  
  
Kagome quickly raised a hand, and the din silenced almost immediately. "Look, Im going to tell you everything, so take your seat back on the couch and it will be explained to you in full. Your getting the real story of what happened during the last two years, so try not to interrupt, and Hojo, if you get confused, just tell me and I'll try and clarif...."  
  
She gave a sniff, "breakfast is getting cold, I'll tell you after we eat!" She leapt into the kitchen in one small leap, which made Hojo's jaw hit the floor.  
  
"How on earth did you do that!" He said in awe, his eyes wide, bearing an uncanny resemblence to that Harry Potter movie character Ron Weasley when he's spooked. She turned, her mane of hair sweeping to the side, and she gave him a small grin, which was answered by a small growl from Inuyasha. "Ill tell you over breakfast..." she said happily, checking a note from mother that said she was "out." She sniffed it, just to pick up her mothers scent if she would need it in future, she didnt know, but it was good to be prepared for the worst.  
  
"Naraku can't be the only evil out there..." she thought, her thought taking an undesirable turn towards her mothers whereabouts. "What if some demon has her..." She was suddenly radiating fear, which was just as quickly replaced with a smile, and thought "If she could stand "The Great Inuyasha" down, then nobody could take on my mom and live to tell the tale!" She laughed at the very thought of seeing her mother chasing Naraku in his baboon pelt, running for dear life around the kitchen, belting him over the head with a rolling pin.  
  
Her ears twitched, she could hear whispering in the dining room.  
  
"Are you sure thats Kagome?" she could hear Eri whisper.  
  
"I dont know, because if it is, little Kagome has a LOT of explaining to do!" Yuka whispered back. She could hear Ayumi barely supress a giggle.  
  
"And did you see that absolutely gorgeous hunk she was taking down from her room?" Ayumi whispered back. Kagomes ears twitched a bit more, trying to find out if Hojou was adding to the conversation beyond her hearing.  
  
"I don't see what's so special about him really... i mean hes got puppy ears, silver hair, probably a fairly nice body, but what does he have that i dont have?" Hojou whispered. This caused Kagome to almost scream with laughter, stunmbling towards the living room, where Inuyasha was still standing, the "Sentinel of the Living Room" so to speak.  
  
"Inu... Inu... Inuyasha..." A huge peal of laughter, much gasping for breath and more laughing followed. "You... you have to here this, Hojou's trying to.... hmhmhmhm... compare himself with you!"  
  
This caused Inuyasha lip to kick up in a small snarl, she forgot how much he actually loathed this guy. Then the look faded, as he looked her in the eye and raised a hand to carress her cheek. "I love you, Kagome." He said, softly and simply, rubbing his thumb tenderly over her cheek.  
  
Kagomes face smoothed out, here eyes closing in bliss at the contact, a gentle purr coming from her as she nuzzled up to his hand, sighing, "I love you too, Inuyasha." She opened her eyes, and smiled up at him "more than you'll ever know."  
  
At this, he gave a suprisingly philosophical look at her, "care if you give me a sample later today?" He gave her one of his sexy little grins which he knew she simply loved, she had told him so after thier "fun" last night. he remembered the moment quite clearly.  
  
It was dark to the human eye, but almost as bright as day to the typical half dog demon, the sun setting outside the window, the Sun waving its final goodbye to the people of Tokyo, as the coupling hanyous were in the throes of passion on the small bed tucked against the wall in Kagome Higurashi's bedroom. There was a female crying out "Inuyasha!" and an answering howl from the male as he went rigid, and slumped forward on top of his mate. After a minute, he slumped to his side, and pulled her close, murmuring her name softly.  
  
Then the female spoke up, "Inuyasha?"  
  
Inuyasha opened bleary amber eyes to look into his mates stormy grey orbs, "yes koi?"  
  
Kagome smiled, snuggling up closer, "you know what I really like?"  
  
Inuyasha simply nuzzled her neck, "what do you like Kagome?"  
  
She just smiled back at him, "I simply love it when you give me those little grins of yours, they've been driving me crazy ever since i met you!"  
  
Inuyasha raised his eyebrows at her, "really? I was wondering why you always smelled so fucking delicious around me whenever id smile at you."  
  
Kagome laughed and said something about him being a pompous ass as she slipped away from conciousness.  
  
Inuyasha's thoughts snapped back to the present, seeing Kagome's shining face, grinning up at him.  
  
Just at that simple expression, Kagome felt her heart melt, then solidify with rock hard desire making her heart race, just like every other time he gave her that smile.  
  
He smiled inwardly, he could smell her change in scent, that enticing edge, no, bite, thats the word he was looking for, whenever she was aroused. He growled low "Kagome, I'd stop smelling like that if I were you, I dont think your friends want to hear anything... uh... you know" he blushed a bit as he ended his "threat" somewhat lamely.  
  
Kagome gave him a wry grin, "What if I want them to hear? Not that I do, but what if I did?"  
  
That shut him right up. "Kagome... your friends, they're still here and we have to give an explaination..." he hinted in a sing song voice.  
  
She gave him an expression of mock surprise "Oh really? I did not know that i was about to explain WHY i wasnt in school barely at all for the last TWO YEARS!" she said in a simple voice, bouncing on her toes and fiddling with her fingers.  
  
She was nervous, he could tell, so he did what any good mate would do, try and ease her fears with a kiss to the cheek, then to the tips of the ears. "If they are real friends, then they will understand and accept you, just as you, Sango, Miroku, Kilala, Kaede, Myouga and Shippo accepted me for who I am."  
  
She smiled up at him then nodded. "Ok, ready? Lets go do this!" She took his hand and squeezed it tightly, leading him into the kitchen, picking up the barely warm pancakes, and striding bravely into the dining room, letting her ears show proudly. she could almost hear a play on the song "I Am Woman" going in her head. "I am strong! I am invincible! I am hanyou!" Yes. She was a hanyou, and she was proud of it. She was proud of her decision to mate with Inuyasha. What she was doing was right, she knew that full well.  
  
She walked into the dining room, feeling her friends eyes boring into her. Ayume stood up. "Kagome, could you tell us when all this started?" Kagome was caught off guard, she was expecting her friends to be joking around with this, but now they were almost completely serious. "Great," she thought, "Now I'm having a press conference!"  
  
"Well," she began, "it started incidentally on my 15th birthday, when i was looking for Buyo, so I went to check the wellhouse because he was too much of a wimp to check there himself. This is where it starts to get a little weird, so bear with me. A huge centipede then burst from behind me and took me into the well. I had no idea what was going on, she kept going on about a Jewel and then she hit me in the thigh and the Jewel of Four Souls poped out of the back of my thigh, care to see the scar for proof?" She gave Hojou a pointed look, due to the fact that he looked at her as if she was a raving loon. "Or if that isn't enough for you, we could show you the well, maybe even take you over to where Inuyasha lives."  
  
This caused Eri, Yuka, Ayumi, and Hojou's eyes to bug out. "You mean he's not from this world!?" they shouted, causing both hanyous to cover thier ears.  
  
"Not so fucking loud! Kami on high! You want to make us fucking deaf?!" Kagome yelled, then clapped a hand to her mouth, then narrowed her eyes dangerously. "Inuyasha?"  
  
the fellow hanyou turned to her. "Hai, Koibito?" this comment caused Kagome to blush furiously and for the four friends to blanch.  
  
"Kagome," Hojou inquired, "did Inuyasha just address you as his mate?" All four shared a devious smile and a snigger.  
  
"For one, you are rubbing off on me way to much," She said playfully, then she got serious, "and second, please escort them to the well, were gonna show them what we've been doing and where I've been over these last two years."  
  
At this, Inuyasha smirked, "looks like im gonna have to get the pervert beating stick out." He gave a deep throated chuckle. "This is gonna be great, id love to see thier reactions to a few demon swarms..." he thought with a wry grin.  
  
After a few minutes all six of them were around the well. Kagome spoke up. "Okay, Inuyasha you go ahead with Hojou, and ill take Eri, then we will come back for Yuka and Ayumi."  
  
Inuyasha nodded. "Whatever you say Kagome, they're your friends." He turned to Hojou, a pained look on his face, "get on my back, kid, I ain't got all day!" Hojou looked over at Kagome, who simply nodded to him, then he climbed onto the hanyou's back and he had no hesitation in leaping up, then dropping into the well. Hojou's cry of surprise echoed in the confines of the well for a second, then vanished as a pink glow shot up from the bottom of the well, illuminating the wood ceiling, then dying to nothing.  
  
Kagome turned to Eri, "Ok girlfriend, its you and me next, so climb on!"  
  
Eri simply looked at her skeptically, "there's no way you could support me, you always collapsed when we were doing chicken fights at pool parties!"  
  
Kagome simply grinned back at her, "Eri, if you only knew, now get on!"  
  
Eri grudgingly got onto her back, caught by surprise as she hefted her on her shoulders with ease. "God Kag! did you work out!" she said in shock.  
  
Kagome only chuckled. "Something like that Eri, something like that." then she leapt up and down the well.  
  
Ayumi looked over at Yuka, "You sure we really wanna know, because Im kinda scared."  
  
Yuka gave a small laugh, "oh come on! Of course I'm sure about it! I really wanna know!"  
  
About twenty seconds later. Ayumi fell flat on her butt as Inuyasha came bursting out of the well, Kagome in his arms, landing gently, and setting her down. Both of them were a little wet. "It's raining on the other side, so come on! Hop on! The quicker we get over, the faster we can run to Kaede's and get warm!"  
  
This just got blank stares from her friends. "All...alright." they stammered as the two young women climbed onto the hanyou's backs. Inuyasha and Yuka hopped in first, closely followed by Kagome and Ayumi.  
  
Ayumi watched in wonder as she saw what Kagome and Inuyasha saw every time they crossed over the well. She watched the colors of the "wormhole" ebb and flow as they floated through it to the other side. The Inu-gumi was up for a rude awakening, and Kagome thought she had found something that would probably break the inevitable tedium of camp. Yes, her friends from 500 years in the future. 


	14. A Revitalized Camp

Miroku looked at the fire, listening to the burning wood crackle, and the gentle pitter-patter of the rain upon the small hut's wooden roof. He also heard the rain's gentle hiss as it came through the summer foliage outside in the forest surrounding Kaede's hut, and listening to the birds sing their gentle songs about these soft summer rains. It was times like these that he felt truly lonely. He had nobody really to talk to when he was alone like this, except himself. He looked at his hand, the source of the solution to so many battles early on, even leading him into a life and death struggle with Naraku's insects' poison on several occasions. It was the reason that he and Sango could not be together when Naraku was alive...  
  
Sango. The reason he was truly alive, that woman that seemed to make him determined to... to live on. The hope that she gave him and the smack in the face that came with it went hand in hand... (AN: NO IDEA WHAT THIS MEANS, BUT I LIKE IT SO STFU AND READ!)  
  
His thoughts were cut short as he looked up to see Kilala saunter in, shaking her fur in annoyance, water spraying onto the fire, making it hiss like an angered snake. He smiled "If Kilala is around, then so is..." Sure enough, like a wet weatherman says "its raining," Sango lifted the wood screen of the hut aside to let herself in, as Shippo bounded into the hut as well, causing the fire to hiss even more, and then begin to sputter a bit. "Shippo! Please don't shake! You could put out the fire!" Miroku warned. Shippo was in the middle of getting his tail air-dried when he stopped, heeding the monk's warning. "Speaking of Shippo," the young priest thought, "I wonder where his grandparents got off to..." The fox kit took a small sniff of the air, his tail twitching once, and then twice, before he broke into a run, blowing out the door in a flash of crème fur.  
  
"Shippo!" Sango cried in alarm as the little fox bounded straight between her legs in his rush to get out the door, causing her kimono to flip up a bit in his passing. She looked back at the houshi, slightly shocked, walking over to the far wall of the small hut, sighing softly as she lay back against the hard wood of the wall. "Feels great to be sitting again, we had been walking around all of last night because Shippo had a nightmare!"  
  
Miroku sighed. He knew what the absence of Kagome's scent did to him. It made him worry about her, made him whimper randomly in his despair...  
  
Just then something slammed into the wall right next to the door, then a soft thump was heard. A few seconds silence, then a nearby snigger, a chuckle, then an outright full-blown roar of laughter. Miroku got up and walked to the door shade and pushed it aside, looking to the right of the door, where a woman with a tuft of fur for a face lay twitching, as her face fur twitched with a mind of its own... soft crème fur.  
  
The monk raised an eyebrow. "Wait a second," he said, intrigued as he walked over and plucked the ball of fur off the woman's face to see a very shocked expression on the woman's face, her amber eyes wide with surprise. Miroku suddenly saw exactly what had happened and joined in the raucous laughter that filled the forest around the little hut.  
  
It seemed Kagome had been running ahead of Inuyasha, when Shippo burst out of the hut and jumped up to meet her, but misjudged it, landing clear in her face, causing her to be unable to stop and slam into the wall at near full speed.  
  
A young man dressed in black ran over to Kagome's side, a worried expression on his face. "Higurashi-sama! Are you alright?" He got to a knee and was about to check her forehead when a very familiar voice rang out across the clearing. "Don't you DARE lay a finger on her Hobo!" As Miroku wiped his eyes of the tears that had formed from his laughing so hard, his best friend in red came dashing across the clearing, standing above Hojou, his claws threateningly exposed, "if you do, your meat! Understand?"  
  
Hojou and Kagome both gave him dry looks. "I believe my name is Hojou, Inuyasha, you know, last time I checked, or did it change without my knowledge?" Hojou replied simply, as though expecting a full explanation for the "mistake".  
  
Inuyasha stopped dead; only Naraku reacted as coolly under the full flare of his threats and insults. "Either this kid is really smart, or really stupid," he thought, a look of intrigue passing across his face, "I need to find out more about this guy." Inuyasha let the cogs go into motion as he gave Hojou one ungrateful "feh" of annoyance.  
  
At this Kagome marveled. "Wow," she thought proudly, "And here I thought Hojou would wet his pants at Inuyasha's death threats."  
  
Hojou carefully pulled back. "She is all yours, Inuyasha..." he said uneasily. It was just something about this Inuyasha that unnerved him, really rattled his marbles, just like Kagome did sometimes. Sure, he had played dumb most of the time, but that was just a front for a truly inquisitive mind at work behind the dopey facade.  
  
Inuyasha walked over to Kagome's side, offering her a clawed hand. "What are you, stupid or something bitch? It's raining! Come on inside!" His face was smiling, belying his true purpose of the rough words.  
  
Inuyasha's face suddenly blanched when he saw Kagome's face darken, a look of rage ripping the former look of marvel to shreds. With her claws, fangs, and ears twitching like mad. She now looked truly dangerous, and it was definitely time for an apology and fast before he got a good skinning, or sat to the center of the earth. Something suddenly clicked in his mind as he saw her mouth form into an "s" shape. He chuckled with mirth inside, "I actually wonder if this works anymore..." he speculated mentally.  
  
One of three things could happen. The first thing that could happen would be that the sit command still works, and he would be in a lot of pain. This was not a very good option for him. The second course of action could be to clap a hand over her mouth, which would invariably get bitten, and then if he could keep his body over hers, a sit could be avoided. This option looked classically entertaining to him. Third, he could whisk her off somewhere and make up for the insult by being her... he gulped, he didn't exactly like that one... or did he?  
  
He felt the tug of the necklace as she began her tirade, "SIT! SIT! SIT! SIT! SIT! SIT! SIT! SIT! SIT! SIT!" As he felt the pain mount up on his already ridiculous tolerance for it, he thought, "Wehell, that answers that little stumper!" The necklace just kept making the hole he was in larger and larger, then he slipped into blackness around the 17th shriek of "SIT!"  
  
When he came to, he felt cold. Not the "ooo... goose pimples" kind of cold, but the "Holy shit! It's cold!" kind. His first job was to peel himself off the now soggy dirt that his nose had been so roughly planted in. "Well, I guess I sort of deserve this for snapping at her..." he thought, shaking his head as he got up, his silvery locks losing their small clods of dirt, and hopped up, hearing a small shriek of surprise, then a small thud as he looked down to see one of Kagome's friends flat on her butt in the entrance.  
  
He gave a classic "Feh!" of annoyance, and then extended a hand to her, which she gratefully took, and he pulled her to her feet. "You must be vigilant around here..." He started saying, but was cut of by his mate's shining face poking through the shade.  
  
Kagome smiled gently at her mate. "He is so cute when he's actually concerned about someone. Too bad he doesn't show that side too often..." she thought fondly. He smiled back sheepishly, walking inside the now warm, and very damp, hut.  
  
The fire was crackling merrily in the hearth in the middle of the small wood shack; the monk was against the wall to the left of him, while Kagome's friends were sitting in the back, looking a little uneasy. Sango was sitting right next to the door, smiling as Kagome sat down next to her.  
  
Sango cracked a small grin, which seemed to say, "well aren't you going to sit down?"  
  
Inuyasha smiled back at the invitation, and sat down at Kagome's side, looking like a bedraggled mess.  
  
Shippo held his nose, and questioned, "Does anyone smell the familiar odor of wet DOG?" Then a look of sudden fear shook the young kit, then jumping into his "mother's" arms, cried "Okaa-san! Save me!"  
  
Kagome just stared, then growled like an annoyed dog, "Wet dogs, are we Shippo?" Her eyebrow was twitching in irritation. She thought angrily, "no one, not even my own pup, calls me a dog!" Her soft amber eyes turned to slits of annoyance as she bared her fangs at him, which got the appropriate whimper of submission Kagome was looking for from the little whippersnapper. Then she just patted his head and let him snuggle into her chest for protection and warmth.  
  
Inuyasha stared at the kit, his expression at first blank, then his face contorted into a snarl as he bore down on the kit in his mother's lap. "Thank Kami that your mother is here, Shippo!" A look of sudden confusion crossed his face, as though you could actually read the words, "did I just say mother?" written across his face in huge letters.  
  
Yuki, Eri, and Ayumi just watched this little family interaction unfold with a look of bemusement that one would wear if they were watching a fully dressed dog passing by across the street from them. Shippo was right, there was that distinct musky odor of wet dog quietly permeating the air in the hut, but how did Shippo detect it so quickly?  
  
Eri looked thoughtful for a second, then giggled softly, and said in an honest, sincere tone, "well, you three make quite the family! When's the next kid expected?"  
  
Inuyasha and Kagome both looked up at Eri, blushing like mad. "Umm... I don't really know yet, Eri, Inuyasha and I have yet to discuss that facet of our lives." Kagome said casually, though a little higher pitch than usual.  
  
In all honesty, it seemed to be almost too much for Yuka and Ayumi when they saw Inuyasha's face at the words "next kid" was just too priceless. They couldn't stop giggling like morons for about two minutes before they got their heads back on and simmered down.  
  
Kagome heard a small rustle inside the hut, and looked up to see Miroku scooting ever so slowly to the back wall of the hut. Kagome sighed, and said a little too obviously and loudly "Miroku, don't even think about it."  
  
Miroku hung his head and sweatdropped. "She is so not fun!" he thought a little too high spiritedly. He scooted back to his original position, looking up to see Inuyasha making a very bold move. He saw him wrap his arms around Kagome's waist and pull her to him, slipping her up into his lap and letting her snuggle with him, in plain view of everyone present.  
  
Kagome was shocked at first when she felt arms wrap around her, but immediately relaxed, and shivered in a bit of pleasure when she felt the familiar claws of her mate grazing against her now bare tummy.  
  
Shippo ran off like a shot out the door, trying to get a good distance away from the hut. "I guess its mommy-daddy time now." he thought, "I'll just give them a little privacy."  
  
Inuyasha just watched him run off, keeping his ears tuned in to his movements in the nearby woods. He took a sniff and realized exactly what had happened, and blushed furiously. "Kagome's aroused!" he thought suddenly. He sniffed again, "Nope, senses aren't lying! She definitely wants to jump my bones! That's what most likely triggered Shippo's instinct to run off like that!" He surmised mentally. He reached up to pet her ear, just to make sure he wasn't smelling things. The spike in her scent when he touched her ear with his claws and raked them gently down the back of her ear nearly sent him swooning. "It's so strong!" he thought, completely thrown off by the incredible potency of her arousal. He had a sudden thought that sent him almost into a panic, "maybe she is nearing her heat!" this thought both filled him with joy and fear. It would be his and Kagome's first chance to try at having pups, yet having pups would open the door to new responsibilities and liabilities... he looked up at Sango, who was staring at a place on the wall above Miroku's head with a far off look in her eyes. He then turned his gaze on the relaxing monk, a contemplative look on his face and mischief in his eyes, as he slipped Kagome off his lap, to Kagome's glares and growls, and got up, he thought, "If I'm going to have to be shut in for the next 15 years, I'm not going to do that alone! Besides, I feel like being a matchmaker today anyway..." He smiled as he motioned for Miroku to follow him.  
  
Miroku simply nodded and got up to follow the hanyou out the door into the now heavy atmosphere of the forest. "I wonder what he's got on his mind..." he thought, curiosity brewing in the back of his mind. They walked into the darkening woods, owls giving regular hoots into the night, for what seemed hours, until Miroku finally spoke up. "Inuyasha, what's going on?"  
  
Inuyasha looked back at the monk, that mischievous look still in his eyes as he said slyly, "so, how are things between you and the exterminator?" he gave him a small smile, "it seems like you two haven't.... progressed as quickly as I'd have expected."  
  
The monk was confused, "Me? ...And.... and SANGO! It's preposterous! It's crazy! It's... it's... it's.... so... so right..." he thought, his facial expressions going from shocked, to even more shocked, to a little upset, to pensive, to a huge perverted grin. He thought for a second, "Maybe, since Naraku is gone now, just maybe I could ask her..."  
  
Inuyasha was finally getting impatient, "okay monk, you don't need to answer..." he said calmly, walking towards him and clapping a hand to his shoulder. "Miroku," he said calmly, "from what I've seen of you two together, either you guys would love each other to death, or kill each other. I'm just not sure which it is yet!" He chuckled softly as he started off, "who knows, you two could actually have pups of your own! Wouldn't that be wonderful, Miroku? Living with Sango for the rest of your life?"  
  
"Wonderful doesn't even begin to describe it! Oh, how much I would love to see her every morning in my arms... and other times of the day, and night, too..." The young monk thought with a small grin crossing his lips.  
  
Inuyasha chuckled again, "Miroku, I can see where your mind is taking you, I don't even have to hear it!" he gave a small laugh as he shook his head, "Miroku, what the hell are we going to do with you? You know what we need for you? A cage! That's what we need!" He laughed harder, "No offense Miroku, but it is so true!"  
  
Miroku laughed with Inuyasha, their laughs chiming thought the dense forest around them like church bells, ringing in a gentle chorus of bells in some European city somewhere.  
  
I thought this was enough for a chapter. I hope everybody had an excellent 4th of July and yes, I did play with bottle rockets like a lot of other guys out there, and yes, I did get several second and third degree burns, plus a bald spot on my arm do to a loose bottle rocket! Looks at the burn yeah, that's pretty nasty! Oh yeah! Almost forgot! BUY ROMAN CANDLES! THEY ROCK! See you soon!  
  
Kyd Fizziks 


	15. Our Sacrifices

The air was crisp, and full of scents, both benevolent and malign that morning. It was early; she didn't know what time it was exactly, but something inside her told her that it had to be around 3 AM, a few hours before sunrise.  
  
Kagome Higurashi was wearing a badly wrinkled pair of miko's robes for her jaunt through the forest; her wild mane of hair flowed down, slapping her in the butt with each step. "This hair can be so annoying!" She thought, frustrated with its constant slapping and the few snags in very low branches. She couldn't sleep, even after a long, "hard" night with Inuyasha. She needed to get away from him for a bit, for what, she didn't know. She sat down on a greenish-grey boulder, feeling the moist moss on its surface beneath her fingertips, next to a softly simmering hot springs. "Yeah, I just need to think! That should tell me why I left his warm side for this cold rock!"  
  
So she thought, and thought, her eyes absently peering into the pearly depths of the hot spring, her right ear softly twitching, rotating to sense for any danger. She remembered a song, a song that she had heard once not exactly too long ago. She remembered the soft guitar in the beginning of it; making her close her eyes and focus on it. Then she remembered the sharp increase in volume, and then she started to softly sing the lyrics of the song. "Hello my friend, we meet again! It's been a while, where should we begin? Seems like forever! Within my hollow memories, the perfect love that you gave to me, oh I remember! When you are with me... I'm free! I'm careless, I believe! Above on your words, we'll fly! Which brings tears to my eyes! My sacrifice!" Her voice trailed off as she hummed the a little bit of the guitar after this, then shook her head. "This is getting me nowhere!" She thought angrily, a small scowl on her face.  
  
She was about to get up and shrug the song off her mind when a sudden word struck her, making her thoughts come to an abrupt halt, her expression going from one of anger to sudden epiphany. "Sacrifice..." she thought, "yes, sacrifice. We've all made sacrifices for each other in this group. I parted with half of my humanity to be with Inuyasha..." She felt a tear form in her eye, and it gently sliding down her cheek. "That had to be the best thing I ever did for Inuyasha and I, besides releasing him from the God tree!" she smiled, pondering over the white haired hanyou who had taken her heart and whisked it off to wonderland.  
  
One pleasant memory of giving Inuyasha a good sitting for punching Shippo for one of his countless transgressions against the ticking time bomb of a half demon crossed her mind then, and a pained look crossed her face came with it as she thought about the little fox kit. "Shippo, you lost your entire family, and had stood up to protect me..." she suddenly giggled, interrupting the thought. Yeah right! Shippo! Protect her? Please! "Shippo would more likely hide under my shirt begging for ME to protect him!" she laughed gently at that thought, as she almost always would have if the situations they were in when they happened weren't as serious as they were.  
  
Then she thought about Sango, and how she always complained about that "damn houshi!" all the time. "Ah, Miroku," she thought, grinning evilly, "you had to sacrifice the freedom to grope! HAHA!" A luscious look of victory came across her face. She had never exactly quote, forgiven, unquote the monk for the first day they had met. One, he had tried to kill both she and Inuyasha, and secondly, he had groped her not once, but twice! The nerve of him!  
  
Her thoughts went back to Inuyasha, thinking about every kind word, every little thing he had said to her that still made her heart jump into her throat. She could hear him, in the back of her head, see the sweat on his forehead on the first of his human nights that she had witnessed saying them, "Kagome, you... smell kind of nice..." She smiled, thinking, once again, about the day they first met Miroku. She remembered it well, on the mountain road where Miroku, the wily devil, stole their jewel shards, only to join up with them after the day was done. On that day when Inuyasha had actually been concerned about her well-being. She smiled wider and thought, "and he tried to write it off as being concerned over the jewel shards. He honestly is so transparent, you can see right through him, know exactly what he's thinking!"  
  
Another verse suddenly hit her then, bringing the deep electric guitar and drums back into her memory. "We've seen our share of ups and downs, oh, how quickly life can turn around... in an instant!" She stopped there, and thought about all of the little disappointments and major tragedies to befall she and the group. She remembered after defeating the king of the spider heads, when they found out how little of the jewel really had collected, when they thought they had collected so much more. Sometimes, the journey was scary, sometimes throwing her into hysterics, (like Inuyasha trying to make out with her in the opening weeks of it), and others that brought out the spirit of leadership from her, making her take a stand in more situations than she could remember. She remembered how Inuyasha was always smacking his neck, or scratching it, right on time when they needed some critical information about the jewel, its creation, or about Tetsuiga.  
  
Then her thoughts turned upon the their tome of information on demon history, Myouga. That little flea knew more than Kagome could learn in a century! It was absolutely incredible that a flea could know so much. "Speaking of fleas..." She thought, feeling a torturous itch at the side of her neck. She brought her bare foot up and scratched at the spot and with her keen eyes spotted the familiarly well dressed flea, in his miniature traveling clothes, which actually made him... a bit cute in her eyes, flying off her skin and plopping onto the ground with a detectable thud.  
  
"Myouga! What are you doing here!" she said, an eyebrow quirked. "Well that's good, no evil auras could ever be around if Myouga still is!" she thought, internally chuckling at the little flea that always fled at the first whiff of trouble.  
  
Myouga looked a little affronted by the questionable look Kagome was giving him. "I'm here to assist you, Lady Kagome, with your first heat!" He said in his sage-like tone as he bowed low, till his sucker touched the ground, and unfortunately for him, got stuck in the moist earth. Kagome watched as Myouga flailed pointlessly, trying to right himself. "Lady Kagome! Please! I require your assistance! HELP ME!" he howled, begging for her assistance.  
  
Kagome chuckled, bemused as she took her index finger and thumb and plucked the flea out of the ground, setting him gently on the moss next to her. She looked straight down at him, trying to figure out what he meant by "heat" it seemed by trying to bore straight thought his head for answers with just her eyes. She raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean, "heat," Myouga?" she asked, a little fire in the back of her mind burning with sudden curiosity.  
  
Myouga blushed deeply, "Well, uh... erm... I... ugh!" he gave a small whimper of pain as he was suddenly flattened by Kagome's index finger.  
  
Kagome looked a little ticked, as thought she were a dog that really wanted to know something, but someone was keeping it from her, driving her nuts with interest. "You're going to tell me right now or I'm going to squish you into Inuyasha's ear canal, then all you will be is mere earwax! Do you understand me, Myouga?" she said a little too sweetly, pushing down on the flea a little harder. "NOW START SINGING FLEA!" she shouted harshly at the little flea, which was trying his best to resist being squished to a pulp. She honestly had no idea, where in left field stuffing Myouga into one of Inuyasha's ears had come from, but she thought it good at the time, and that was good enough for her.  
  
Myouga was shocked to say the least, this sudden violence from such a sweet young human, "no, half demoness," he mentally corrected himself. "Right, I'd better tell you before I'm unable to, so stop crushing me please Lady Kagome!" he yelled up at the half dog demoness who squishing his body to the thickness of a sheet of paper.  
  
Kagome smirked as he let the pressure off of him, letting him pop back to his normal dimensions. "Start talking Myouga, what's going on?" Kagome gave the now fearful little flea a gentle nod, as if to urge the desired information out of his little sucker.  
  
Myouga sighed, and started, "well, every demoness has a cycle, as you well know. Human females also have cycles, but much closer together than yours are now. The normal half dog demoness' cycle for her heat is around every three months, with a 6 month gestation period before birth, give or take a few days to a week for each. By the smell of you, Lady Kagome, I believe you'll be feeling it in a mere few hours." He paused for air, having not taken a single breath out of the fear of being squished once again.  
  
Kagome knitted her brow; she didn't like the idea of having huge "half-demon" sized cramps every three months. "So... what happens when I'm in heat?" she asked. She was really curious about this, and kind of relieved that she wouldn't have to deal with her period every month. "Another plus!" she thought with sudden glee as she watched the flea start to calm down and go into the next subject.  
  
"Lady Kagome, I cannot tell you exactly, but seeing as this is your first heat, it might be good for you to stay in your..." Myouga suddenly clapped a little leg to his sucker, and then quickly tried to play it cool. "I mean, stay with Inuyasha and OOF!"  
  
Kagome heard the slip-up, and for some reason, she felt the urge to find out more. "What is mine here, Myouga? What exactly are you talking about, 'Stay in my?'" She gave a small, barely audible giggle. She was enjoying the hell out of herself, milking the flea for all the knowledge he had.  
  
The flea was not taken by surprise this time as he dodged the incoming finger. "LADYKAGOMEICANNOT...TELLYOUORLORD...INUYASHAWILL.... KILLMEANDIREALLY...DON'TWANT...TODIE!" he said in a stumbling rush of words as he dodged prod after prod of Kagome's index finger.  
  
Kagome sighed, "All right Myouga, about the heat?". She really didn't want to get Inuyasha upset by knowing about a now obvious upcoming surprise, so she decided to drop it... for now. Honestly, she felt just the slightest bit uncomfortable at first about talking about something this "intimate" with Myouga, but still, he was the only one who had the knowledge, so she thought it best to take some information from the knowledgeable and trustable source.  
  
Myouga wiped a drop of sweat from his forehead with one of his little legs and continued his explanation. "You should stay by Inuyasha, because your behavior is most likely going to become extremely unpredictable, and we don't want you to do anything rash during your heat, and watch what you say, always keep in touch with your brain, or Lord Inuyasha may have to punish you for stepping too far out of line, but moving on..." Myouga concluded in another rush of words, to try and see if Kagome would miss the part about "punishment". He looked up to see Kagome giving him a blank stare of fear and apprehension.  
  
"P...punish?! What... what kind of punishment?" she stammered, looking at Myouga with pleading eyes, scooting closer to the wee flea on the rock. She did NOT want to go into this not knowing what could happen.  
  
Myouga cleared his throat, "well, several ways, Milady. He could go from showing dominance, to the silent treatment, even to the extreme of collaring you!" Yes, it was true, he had seen many males collar their rowdy mates in his time, and oh, how he did howl with laughter at the poor females.  
  
Kagome's ears twitched innocently, as her eyes widened in fear at the thought of having a collar with a bell on it around her neck. "Myouga?" she said a little too high-pitched to seem normal. "Wh... What exactly is... 'collaring'?" She asked, sounding a little nervous. "Actually, now that you think about it," she thought, "a collar might be kind of cute!" a grin quirked up the edges of her mouth at the thought of seeing Inuyasha's reaction seeing her wearing her bathing suit, along with a new bright red collar. "You know, just to complete the "dog" look," she concluded mentally.  
  
Myouga's eyes brightened, as though this was his favorite thing to talk about. "Collaring goes back a long time. Collaring binds you within a certain distance of your mate, so where he goes, you go. Simple as that." he said with a casual manner that one would use to invite someone to afternoon tea. "But I think you need not to worry, I don't think he would have the heart to do that to you. If you keep your head on straight, and don't say anything silly to make him thinks that your leaving him, then there should be no need for it." He paused for a moment, wanting to end there, but one little thought came to him and he spoke up again, causing Kagome's mane of hair to swish around behind her as she turned her head to look back at him. "Oh yes, one more thing, Lady Kagome, then I would wish to turn in, for it is very late. Keep your guard up against other males, like Sesshoumaru, and the mountain wolf prince Kouga is bound to show up, and that may mean trouble. If he touches you, you tell him to back off and do not show any submission whatsoever, do you understand me, Milady?"  
  
Kagome simply nodded at the little flea, and the flea nodded back, seeming satisfied with his dolloping out of information, and hopped back up the leg of her kimono, where she let him feed for a while as she sat, pondering all of this new information until the sun cresting over the distant mountains, and a loud, dog like bark cracking like a gunshot through the trees. She snapped out of her thoughts, just as she felt a familiar cramped feeling in her stomach. "Shit! This is a lot worse than human cramps!" she groaned in aggravation, then walked towards the source of the bark, where, most likely, her mate was going to be waiting for her, as he always did, with a smile and an embrace, and the "Good morning, mate!" that she had grown so used to over the past weeks.  
  
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Well, there's chapter 15! I hope you like it! Well, I hope everyone is partying hearty, so caps off to the good old boys out there! Please review! Ja! 


	16. Reflections and Danger Ahead

Chapter 16: Reflections and Danger Ahead

Yuki sighed as she sat outside under the God tree, looking up at the bright blue sky above her. It had been amazing to hear exactly what was going on. Really she though she would not be waking up in this world but back in her own bed, laughing at the hilarity of the dream that she was having. But, alas, she woke up on a tatami mat with no heat or air conditioning. Yep, her worst nightmare had come true, all the time in the world without electricity.

She was jerked quite surprisingly out of her stupor by none other than Miroku. The monk smiled courteously at her before giving a small bow. "Miss Yuki? How do you fare this morning?" He asked, his small, charming smile still firmly planted on his lips as he sat a few feet from her, keeping a safe distance from her so Sango could say NOTHING about him being perverted with Yuki.

Yuki smiled softly, not exactly used to such proper addressing from the opposite sex. "Oh, hello Miroku, that's your name, right?" she asked, not wanting to get it wrong. He was a hunk after all, her first look at him told him that. He was probably a very nice and charitable man, seeing his status as a houshi, a very incorrect assumption, as she was about to find out.

Miroku smiled, sitting back with his staff in hand. "Well, you got it right the first time, so I'm pretty sure you will not get it wrong the next…" He said with a small chuckle, his dark violet eyes flashing up to her dark green optics. "Well… I saw you out here today, and I thought you'd like to have someone to talk to…" he said, softly scooching a bit closer, his charming smile still in full effect.

Yuki knew what the monk was up to, and she gave him a glare. "Monk… if you even think of touching me there… I swear to god…" She growled in warning to him gently, looking up into those gorgeous violet eyes.

Miroku gave her a soft smile as he smiled. "so… do you go to skool? Like Kagome does?" he asked with a small smile.

Yuki smiled and nodded, "Yeah, I'm one of Kagome's classmates! I've taken a class on your time period, it's a very, very interesting period of history…" She smiled. This part of history was one of her personal favorites, that was true.

Miroku cocked his head, looking interestedly up at her, "hmm… are we ever mentioned in history?" he asked, his eyes holding an earnestness and honesty that he only held in the most serious of situations.

Yuki smiled softly as she watched the white fluffy clouds float languidly above their heads, sighing as she snuggled back into the rough bark of the Goshinboku tree. She gave a small yawn as she looked up. "well… Naraku never made his mark on the history books, sorry about that Miroku…" she looked a bit embarresed about it, looking back into his eyes with a soft smile.

Miroku gave a soft laugh, "Ah well, thought I could have two wives, one in each time, but I guess its not the case…" He finished in a chuckle, looking down at a very interesting anthill. "And I wonder what this would be in 500 years, a giant anthill? The largest in the world? Who knows? You do…" he looked up at her once more, a mischievous, yet searching expression on his face, as though her were trying to feel out exactly how everything had changed between his time and hers.

Yuki giggled softly as she replied, "I'll get back to you on that, okay, Miroku?" She gave the monk another lookover. She couldn't help but ogle at him, and the way he sat let just the slightest bit of his chest appear from below his robes. It was only slightly pale, a few shades short of godly bronze, but that was alright with her, he was just so cute she wished she could have him in her closet so she could talk with him anytime she wanted… "Wait a sec… that's just odd," she thought, the expression of sudden confusion crossing her features quickly, then fleeting back to that usual flirtatious smile. Those eyes, that face, that body… mmm, and the fact that he was a holy man, a man of honor and dignity, was just so much of an attractive package that it basically stunned Yuki into the state of a she-wolf running across an untouched, downed moose. For some reason, she had to have him…

Miroku gave a soft chuckle as he leaned back in the soft grass of the clearing on the hill overlooking the village, also observing the white fluffy objects in the sky. "Such gorgeous weather…" he said in a marveled voice. It was quite different from the rain from yesterday, which the ground still held just barely, making the soil below their bodies still a bit squishy with dampness. He sighed as he added, "You know… I used to think days like this would never come, where I could just lay back and watch the world go by. I was living minute by minute back then, and I never had a chance to just totally relax like this." As he finished his little speech, he lay back totally, his purple robes soaking up a bit of the dampness that still beaded on the thin blades of grass, but he didn't mind it, and simply watched the world pass him by, looking sideways down the hill to the village, watching the villages going along with their lives.

Yuki sighed as she rose, then went to the side of the God tree that was closest to Miroku, taking a well deserved look at the village below them. Her mind was reeling at the thought that this area right here was to be Tokyo, the bustling metropolis in a half millennia. She let her gaze rise to stare off into the distance, finding large, grand mountains that were not farmiliar to her view from Kagome's house. "that's right, it must have been humans, or a great battle or something… maybe even the Americans bombing it that make it look so different… then…" she had almost said "now" but had caught herself, remembering that this was 500 years before she was born. She looked up as Miroku's staff gave a little jingle, and Miroku was looking at her, his staff drawn over his body in a defensive position.

He had looped an arm under her armpit, pulling her to her feet with a yelp of protest, which Miroku quickly silenced as he looked seriously down at her, speaking calmly, "I sense dark auras headed this way… we must get back… there are many of them, fairly weak, but still a formidable force…"

Yuki gave a sideways glance at the monk, letting her mind wander as to what these dark forces were… but didn't let her mind wander too far, so she wouldn't freak herself out. Wait, what was she talking about! She was about to freak out! She gave a soft gasp as she asked hesitantly, "what da…" her sentence was cut off as Miroku caught her up in her arms and began to hightail it back towards camp.

The monk looked around quickly to check his course and situation. They were all still behind them, "good," he thought, "better behind than ahead, I hope we can get organized and help defend the village just in case." No sooner had he thought this when a woman in full black, skin tight armor appeared, falling to a crouch before him. "Sango, there are…" he was cut off by an annoyed snap.

"Miroku, I know… you defend Yuki, Shippo is taking care of Hojou, Eri and Ayame, they are back at Kaede's." She said, looking up at her with her flashing grey eyes. She quickly dashed ahead, taking up a flanking position to Miroku's left.

Miroku nodded, a soft "hmm" of understanding and affirmation crossing him as he set down Yuki, turned and pulled his sutras from his robes. "Demons, they never seem to get it that we can take them… think were pathetic humans." He sighed, looking down at his staff and sutra's, then casually at his right hand. "Buddha, sometimes I actually wish I still had my wind tunnel." He cursed mentally at his former bane and boon. He braced himself, ready for a fight as the swarm of demons broke through the treeline, breaking over them like a massive wave, which Sango immediately cut through. She was methodical and almost a machine when it came to slaying demons. Her Hiraikotsu cut through demons like a hot knife through butter, splitting bone and ripping flesh, poison powder filling the air as she flung a batch out ahead of her, drawing her sword after she had a bad throw, sticking the large weapon into the trunk of a large tree. She continued the slaughter, bringing the blade down on demons big and small, slashing and rending as Miroku barraged the oncoming horde with his sutras, making them make animal screams of pain and anguish before they disappeared in a flash of whitish light.

In twenty minutes, each of which brought new horrors to Yuki's eyes, it was all over, the ground littered with the bodies of the dead and dying demons. Yuki gasped as she saw Sango's arm, it looked as though someone had taken a paint can full of red paint and splashed it all over her right arm. Sango was kneeling, wincing in what Yuki could only imagine was unbelievable pain.

As soon as he saw Sango's wound, Miroku sprang into action, cradling his wife gently in his arms. "Sango, lets get you back to Kaede's, alright?" Miroku said soothingly, cradling her in his arms and pulling her up so he held her, his purple robes getting redder and redder by the minute.

Yuki looked helplessly at the demon slayer and the monk, but then he turned and yelled "get back to Kaede's, quick!" Yuki didn't waste any time, making a beeline for the hut as fast as he legs could carry her.

Sango was getting a bit pale as she gave a feeble nod, then closed her eyes, snuggling into him as he began to run towards Kaede's hut, giving cries for help that brought Shippo bounding up to meet them. "Oh no! Sango! Are you hurt?" he said in his classic "oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!" voice, his face extremely worried.

Miroku gave an irritated twitch of an eyebrow as he mentally yelled, "what the hell does it look like Shippo? We were playing in the mud? Of course she's hurt!" However, he kept his cool, keeping his face calm as he ran faster. "Tell lady Kaede that Sango need immediate attention, she's bleeding profusely!"

Wow… I guess you can say that I'm back now, cant you? Well, everyone take care for now, I think ill continue this story now until I get it done, I hope to get it done before I start college in September, so toodles for now!


	17. The Three Couples

Ch 17: The Three Couples

Kagome sighed as she lay next to her god, her amber eyes trailing gently over each and every feature of his face, thinking over how many trials and tribulations they had had to suffer to reach this point. They had bedded down for the night in a secret cave Inuyasha had found while hunting not too long ago. It was not to small, and not too large either, it would probably make a good home for about four people. The cave's entrance had about a ten foot ceiling, which sloped up into the darkness, and Kagome had guessed the cave to be about thirty feet high at its largest point. With about three feet of width at the enterance spreading out to about thirty feet at the back, which was about sixty feet down the passage, ending in a moss covered limestone boulder. The half moon was right out infront of the entrance, shiningsilver speckled light upon the two demons locked in the aftermath of the embrace of love. "It was so hard," she thought, "so very hard… but I had Inuyasha by my side the whole time… he's most likely the only reason I'm alive today…" she let her thoughts trail on, her polish-free nails running lightly over his golden sides and up over his chest, feeling his muscles quake a little under her fingertips' light pressure, feeling extremely faded rough spots… scars, especially the one on the middle of his stomach that Sesshoumaru had given him near the onset of their journey, even before they had met Sango. "Inuyasha," she whispered, as she ran a fingertip over her love's soft cheek, the hanyou's soft expression softening even more in his slumber. "How did you ever, ever get to be so cute… and go through so much?" She was simply marveling at his magnificence, loving every inch of him, from the tips of his sluggishly twitching ears, all the way down to his toes, which she knew she could make curl at will with a touch. She sighed, snuggling deeper into his embrace, the happiest woman in the world at the moment.

Her mate suddenly off a soft growl, his lips kicking up in a lopsided snarl. She leaned back a bit, her ears cocked up a bit higher, twitching in alarm, trying to find something out of the ordinary, her eyes watching his as his golden orbs slowly opened, a bit dull from sleep, but still spellbinding. His voice was a bit rougher than usual when he woke, which just had the effect of turning her on to him even more as he whispered, "Good morning, my mate…"

Her look of concern suddenly cleared to one of mock indignation, "Inuyasha! You had me scared for a minute there, you started to growl, I thought something was coming…" she whispered, leaning down and nipping playfully at his neck with her fangs, making him wince and try to hide his pleasure at the gentle teasing.

He smirked softly, tilting his head and planting his tongue at the base of her neck, then sliding it up slowly to where her earlobe would have been, then swirled his tongue there in reply, "Well… if your up for it, something will be coming in a while, if you… how do you say it again? "Catch my draft?"" The voice and tone he was using, soft and flirtatious, was driving her absolutely crazy as she began to suck at the base of his neck.

"Inuyasha," she whispered seductively as she pulled her mouth from his neck, with a sigh of relief coming from her demon lover, "It's catch my drift, ok… now shut up and bang me, my beautiful puppy…" she was purring this into cocked ear, giving it a few gentle nips and licks afterward, pressing her bare form to his from beneath the furs they were covered with. "I need you Inuyasha…" she pleaded, pressing her chest firmly to his.

Inuyasha gave a smirk at this, "hmm hmm… well, my bitch, do you want me to not hold back on you?" he purred, nipping the tip of her nose, then licking it softly and then moving to her cheek, pressing up gently to her.

At this, Kagome shook her head quickly. "No, Inuyasha… oh god don't hold out on me baby… give me all you got!" she begged, her hips pressing to his in desperation, her eyes absolutely begging him to fuck her so hard she would pass out.

At Kaede's-

Sango grunted as she slowly roused from her sleep, her eyes opening and looking vacantly around for a few seconds before refocusing, bringing the houshi and the fox kit into her vision. She smiled, feeling her right arm's pain beginning to well up in her mind, making her knit her brows in discomfort, but she forced the pain down, knowing the arm was in tatters, and if shehadn't gotten thevery precise treatment as quickly as she did, it would havemost likelybeen permanently damaged. She sighed, looking into the houshi's deep violet eyes.

Miroku's face was worried, but his eyes were smiling to the point that it looked as if he would cry for joy at any moment. "Thank Buddha your alive, Sango… thank Buddha…" He murmured as he looked down at her, giving her left hand a gentle squeeze, trying to show his sincerity and support for her through the gesture. He really wished Kagome was here, with her modern "first-aid", it could have been really helpful in helping Sango heal.

Sango smiled for the first time in, she didn't know yet but days, a while before giving a dry chuckle, her voice seeming to be lined thinly with pain, but still the same old Sango's voice, "ha… you think a bunch of weak demons like them could kill me? Well think again, monk, and don't even think about letting you hand anywhere near me… well… for now" She ended with a low purr in her voice and a slow wink.

Yuki was in the corner, laying out on her tatami mat as she slept, out cold to what was going on at the moment, but would most likely be glad that Miroku's wife had come to. Miroku had seen Yuki slipping out of her top and skirt before she had slipped under her set of covers, which meant she was only in her undergarments in the warm hut, sleeping soundly.

He sighed happily, leaning down and kissing the top of his love's forehead, then to her lips as he kissed her feather lightly. Sango sluggishly returned the kiss, seeming a bit uncoordinated as he felt her left hand running gently down his back from on top of his robes. He smiled, shrugging his shoulders so his left shoulder was exposed to her eyes, which she slowly made her way to as she kissed down his neck, then began to gently suck on his shoulder, making him shudder as he slid down next to her, whispering "do you need more… more rest, dear?"

She gave a sluggish nod in response, her eyes looking pleadingly up at him as he gently held him with one hand, whispering gently. "Hold me, Miroku… I don't want to be alone right now… just hold me…" he nuzzled into his neck, taking in his interesting scent. It was an interesting scent, sweat, something that smelled like incense to her, and the soft smell that the sutras he used seemed to hold, combining to make a deep, musty, almost divine smell. She shrugged it aside as she nuzzled into him deeper, secure in his embrace as she felt him wrap his arms around her, making her sigh in contentment and let her self slip into unconsciousness.

Miroku smiled gently as he felt her drift off, felt her breathing and heartbeat slowing a bit and deepening as she entered dreamland. He wondered what she was dreaming about right now, what she was seeing. Was it him? Was it Kagome for a casual walk? He couldn't know, but he hoped it was him, making him feel… happy. He didn't feel like he had just gotten a free lollipop, oh no, he felt like he had won the lottery, even though he didn't know what that was, but no matter, all he knew was he had never ever been this happy. He looked down onto her smiling, sleeping face, and whispered down to her, "I love you, Sango…" He smiled wider, nuzzling down into her neck and drifting off with her into the world of dreams.

Meanwhile, somewhere in Inuyasha's Forest-

Cali sighed in annoyance as he looked around the woods, sniffing madly, trying to pick up her scent. "All right, Naja! It's been two days! That's quite enough hide and go seek!" he cried out, cocking his ear to hear the familiar kooky giggle his mate gave off whenever he said something entertaining. He suddenly heard it, only a few feet to his left, making him dive as quick as lightning at the noise, slamming into her soft body. "Gotcha!" he hollered as she cried out, falling onto the ground below him with a soft "thud!" He smiled down at her, his mate of 75 years looking up into his eyes. "Hey love…" he whispered as he purred down at her, licking at her cheek.

Naja giggled softly as she enjoyed the carress, "mmm… good evening, sweetheart…" she purred in reply, licking his cheek in return and then licked softly at his neck. She smirked as she did this, knowing it drove Cali absolutely wild.

Cali shivered softly, then looked down at his mate. "love… we have to go see how Inuyasha is doing, his mate's heat has ceased." He whispered in a choppy voice, but looked stern, discouraging her advances, they needed to talk to Inuyasha, and it was going to be a very serious conversation. A direct message from Sesshoumaru had stated that Sesshoumaru had become a declared homosexual, leaving no heir to the throne of the western lands from Sesshoumaru, and leaving the continuation of the rule of the Western Lands directly in Inuyasha's unskilled hands. He knew for a fact that Inuyasha was an extremely distrusting person, and his personality had the way of being repulsive to all but the very persistent to get to his good side. This was not exactly the most suitable kind of person to sire the next leader of the West. That was where he came in, he had his chance to once again get into the upper circles of the land, get a chance to get to where he thrived most, politics. All he really had to do was groom Inuyasha's son so that he would be fairly politically savy, he needed to know about so many things, some of which even he had not mastered. Inuyasha would take care of the physical training, but Cali's job was the mental training of the new heir.

When Cali had let the cogs rest for a few seconds, he found that his mate was already fast asleep beneath him, purring in her sleep. He sighed as he reached down and cupped her cheek, giving it a gentle kiss. "My mate…" he thought, "all mine…" He pressed close to her and rolled to his side, pulling his mate to him and drifting off quickly against her. They would go tomorrow to see Inuyasha and speak, tomorrow…


	18. Spring Cleaning and Wonderous News

The sun rose slowly in the east, the golden disk slowly poking up from the flat plains and low rolling hills of the Japanese countryside, shining its radiant light over the dewy leaves and blades of grass, making each droplet of water shine like a prism, glaring all the colors of the rainbow for all to see. It was a fairly damp day, the light mist still hanging in the air as Cali thought, looking out over the low hills, each one a rolling mound of green, seeming to be the back of some great serpent slithering across the horizon. He jumped and stiffened suddenly as he heard someone approaching behind him, his nose twitching in alarm, his tensed muscles suddenly easing and frame relaxing when the scent of his mate hit his sensitive nose. He smiled suddenly, his dark green eyes sparking inside their deep set sockets, the arch of his nose catching the light brilliantly as he half turned so he was looking to his right, directly abreast of his female love.

Naja gave a soft gasp as she took in the form that had taken her heart so long ago. Just the pride of it, and how little it had changed over these many years made her muscles quiver in excitement. That dark shadow his nose cast over what seemed to be the rest of his face, making him seem dark and mysterious in her eyes, "and very sexy," she thought, a grin sliding onto her features as she approached the kimono clad man and wrapped an arm around his waist, whispering "honey… we have to get going, you said you wanted to talk to Inuyasha and Kagome this morning about… yeah…" she trailed off, just watching the distant sun rising slowly in the sky, its purples and golds making a truly brilliant sunrise, reflecting just perfectly off of the soft, puffy clouds that were hanging high above. "wow…" she whispered, stepping just a bit closer to her, making Cali smile softly.

"Yes… wow…" he whispered in reply, leaning over and licking her cheek gently. "Sweety, your right, we need to get going…" he added, looking his mate over slowly, trying to see if she would snap out of her awestruck expression soon.

He didn't have to wait long. After only a few more seconds, Naja gave her head a little shake, her red hair rippling behind her. "Right… I'm ready…" She said as she turned, walking down the hill and letting her nose guide them into Inuyasha's Forest.

Back at Inuyasha's cave

It had been hard work getting everything just right for their secret little getaway, and there was still so much more to do. During the night, Kagome and Inuyasha, after very little argument, decided that this cave would be a wonderful place to settle down.

Inuyasha smiled as he recalled the argument over the only reason he had disliked this place. "If I smell one whiff of wolf in here, no go, understand Kagome?" he growled, which made Kagome look up in surprise, "Wolf, what are you talking about, Yash?" she asked, looking out at the waterfall/door at the near end of the cave, "What do you think I'm talking about Kagome?" He asked in earnest, "Does Kouga ring a bell?" He held up his hand and waved it side to side, seeming to be grasping an invisible rope which seemed to be clanging a cathedral's invisible and silent bell. His face was taut with anger, "If Kouga even sets a finger on her now," he thought, "he's fucking toast!" Kagome looked up at him with a cocked head, her ears twitching cutely, "don't you think we can forget about Kouga, Inuyasha? I mean… I'm yours, and there's nothing that could ever happen to change that. You're the only guy I would be with in all of the 500 years that separate our worlds." She smiled softly, a tear falling from her eye. He smiled back, rising from his sitting position and pulling her into a hug. "Right… we'll stay here, alright?" Kagome smiled as she hugged him back, "Okay, Inuyasha," she whispered, nuzzling into his chest gently, "I love you, you silly half demon…" Inuyasha laughed softly as he purred back, "And I love you, my crazy little bitch…" They stood like that for a few minutes then started to work on sprucing the place up.

Kagome took to the interior decorating while she issued Inuyasha the task of getting a boulder large enough to put at the top of the waterfall to split the stream and make it so the entrance of the cavern would be clear of water for moving in furniture and the like. Inuyasha had picked a rather large rock and placed it easily right near the cliffs edge, making sure to dig down in the stream, very carefully, because he didn't need to have his day start off with a fifty foot drop off of a waterfall. After he had made a hole about a foot deep, he settled the boulder into the rushing water and into the hole, splitting the stream of water so about a ten foot section of the rock face was exposed by the split in the falls.

When he walked back down the hillside and down to the caves entrance, he found Kagome hard at work, her finger to her temple as she tilted her head, her classic pondering pose. "Hmm…" she sighed as she walked into the back of the cave, laying out their fur sheet so it looked nice and neat on the dirt floor. It was a beautiful sheet, made from rabbit demon hides. The fur held warmth like a heavy winter glove, and always, always seemed to be warm, whatever the temperature. She smiled down at the brown sheet, giving it a gentle pat, and then straightened, turning to see Inuyasha leaning against a wall, smiling, "It's a start…" he said simply, with a little shrug of his shoulders.

After a second he looked up to see Kagome staring at the entrance of the cavern. Inuyasha sighed, looking back to see Cali and Naja, smiling in at them. "Hey," Naja said softly, "mind if we come in, have a chat?" she asked, looking hopefully up at them. Inuyasha smiled, bowing them in, "My cave is your cave…" he said, making Kagome give a double take. "Wow, that's not the Inuyasha I really know.." she thought, but sighed as she took a seat on the rabbit furs, still in her school uniform as she watched the two males start into conversation, he heard something about "Shesshoumaru" and "homosexual", but most of the rest was just whispers. Inuyasha's face held something next to awe after Cali had stopped talking, pointing to himself once, as if asking for conformation. Cali simply nodded, "that's right, your pup," he said, his dark grey haroi and hamaka keeping him still very dark and mysterious, "Lord of the Western Lands!" Kagome's ears perked as Inuyasha breathed, "Your kidding! Our child! This… this is… Cali are you sure?" He asked, looking up at him, and once again received an affirming nod. "wow…" he breathed, looking up at the ceiling.

So… his son or daughter would be Lord or Lady of his father's land. Finally… he felt like justice had been served. "which leads to my next item… training," Cali added, looking down for a second before looking back up. "of course you will take care of your pup's physical conditioning, but I wish to teach your son about living in the aristocracy. Now im not going to transform your child into Sesshoumaru or anything, alright? I just want to give him the know how as to getting things done as an aristocrat. I wasn't perfect, but I'm charged by your father to do this, Inuyasha, so please let me do this for him…" he looked up at him, his arms outstretched to reinforce his sincerity. Inuyasha thought for a second, then smiled and nodded, "Alright… deal!" Kagome smiled too, their child was going to be the Lord or Lady of the Western Lands. The prospects were just so thrilling!


	19. Reunion at Kaede's

Chapter 19: Reunion at Kaede's

Miroku smiled as he slowly woke next to his bride-to-be, his vision slightly blurred in a collage of browns, crèmes and whites and blacks. He was warm, so very warm right now, and he didn't ever want to move from this spot, just lay like this forever, warm and comfortable. He blinked a few times, clearing his vision just a bit so he could make out Sango's smiling face, feeling her pressed lightly against him. For some reason, whenever he looked at her now, he got this… erotic sensation tingling through his extremities, making him want to double over and let his heart do what it will. However, his discipline as a monk made it fairly easy to control his impulses, so this was not too much of a problem. He sighed softly as he reached up, touching her soft, smooth cheek once, feeling the tender flesh underneath his fingers. "She has skin so smooth for so coarse a personality, now there's a paradox," he thought slowly, feeling even his brain slurring the words slightly, the sleepy feeling not wanting to wear off just yet.

He felt her stir beside him, a small whimper of protest, as though resisting getting up every step of the way. Finally, after a few drawn out seconds, her eyes fluttered open, the brown orbs seeming just a bit frightened at first, but that quickly passed as she briefly recoiled from him, but then slid back up beside him, letting her head nuzzle down into his chest, "good morning, Miroku…" she sighed, looking up at him with soft eyes.

Miroku was simply stunned, she had no idea what that innocent look Sango was giving was doing to him. It was absolutely driving him wild as he leaned down and tilted her head up off his chest, then slid down a bit so they were nose to nose. He took her lips gently, hearing her gasp in sudden surprise, his eyes open and steady as he watched hers bulge in shock, then slowly slip closed in enjoyment. "well… maybe she doesn't have THAT coarse a personality," he thought, grinning inwardly as he let his passion loose on her, rolling her onto her back and letting his tongue slither out over her lips, making her give an even higher pitched gasp as he plunged his tongue into her cavernous mouth, growling almost as ferociously as Inuyasha ever could have.

Sango was reeling, she had never felt anything like this, since she was a virgin still, she had told him only, only once they are married he could have her, body and soul. She smiled as she lay back beneath him, moving her damaged right arm above her head, as not to injure it further, and let her right hand run over the houshi's back, feeling the thick fabric of his robes covering the godly body that was hidden beneath their fluttering layers. She didn't really know what she wanted, all she knew was that she wanted him… somehow, someway, but always closer, for him to give her something she had never had and had no knowledge of.

Miroku smirked as he let his hands gently cup her breasts, surprised that she didn't recoil and slap him. No, she did something quite different. She threw her head back, pulling her lips from his and began to whimper and moan softly with his ministrations. "Miroku… oh Miroku," she groaned gently as his hands began to gently grind against the soft mounds. Miroku seemed to purr in delight as he began to undo her slayer's skin tight suit, letting his mouth cover every square inch of flesh he uncovered.

Sango was in exstacy, but knew if he let him go on, then they might get in trouble. "Miroku… stop, that's enough." She whispered, using her left hand to gently push him back, still panting gently, face flushed.

Miroku frowned, slipping alongside her and nuzzling her neck. "Gods, I've wanted this for so long, Sango, just to be alo…" His confession was interrupted by a certain fox kit bounding into the hut, looking down at them with knowing eyes. "And just what were you two up to?" he said, smirking, folding his arms pompously over his little chest.

Miroku and Sango both blushed, then gave the little kit dirty looks, "Shippo, I think you were correct in your assumption, and your interruption was… unexpected…" Miroku said candidly, in the most strangely normal voice he could. Sango blushed deeper, "Miroku!" she growled, "Can it!"

Shippo chuckled softly, turning his back to the bedded couple, "I see, well, I just wanted to tell you that Kagome and Inuyasha are on their way back here, and they told me to tell you ahead of time."

Sango's face suddenly turned from anger to joy faster than a set of traffic lights, "Oh that's wonderful! I've wanted to talk with her for a long time! She hasn't been around in a while."

Miroku's face was passive as he gave the fox a small smile, his eyes closing as he spoke, showing he was pleased. "And when are our two friends supposed to be arriving?"

Shippo smiled as he gave a small nod, "Around noon, and you guys slept in, I decided you two would need some "time" so I let you guys sleep in, and decided to take a walk." He said this with his cheery little, semi-annoying voice.

Miroku smiled as he rose quickly, "well then, Sango, you stay here, alright, I'll go see how Inuyasha and Kagome are do…" Sango cut him off quickly, "no, that's alright! I want to see Kagome too!" she said with a giggle. Her right arm's aching had gone down during the night, making just a dull throb in the back of her mind. She smiled as she rose, giving just the slightest wince of discomfort as she did so, then quickly did back up her slayer's suit, and walked out the wood shade of a door that the hut had. After looking around a little bit, she spotted Hiraikotsu propped against the wall of the hut, seeming to have been freshly polished free of the demon blood from the last battle.

"Shippo must have polished it while I was out," she thought, then spotted Yuki, walking slowly towards the hut, her face breaking out in a wide smile as she ran towards her. "Sango! Sango! Good to see you!" she cried as she ran to her, stopping just a few feet from her, looking adoringly up at her. "How are you feeling? Arm still hurt?" she asked, looking her over slowly, "wow, I had no idea that Sango could look so good in one of these… it's like she was made for it!" she wondered as Sango laughed softly, "well, I can't say everything is in perfect working order, but the pain is mostly gone. And how is everything with you, Yuki?" she asked, tilting her head with a soft smile.

Yuki giggled softly, "Well, The other three are still on their way back, but Houjo was being a little annoying, talking about how awful Inuyasha was, and how much this era sucked, I was about to slap him and tell him to can it!" she finished with a growl, looking angrily behind her as the other three emerged from the treeline and headed back towards the hut. They were definitely not looking their best, a little pale as they walked up to Sango.

Houjo smiled as he walked up to Sango, bowing gently, "Lady Sango, I see you are well, how's your arm?" he asked, giving her a small smile, then walking over and letting his hand rub gently over hiraikotsu. "I thought I would save you the trouble and polish it for you, if that's alright…" he said, smiling. Sango was taken aback, one of these kids was actually helping her! Great! She had a servant! She smiled as she replied, "thank you very much Hojou, but I could have done it myself and saved you the trouble." Hojou shook his head, "no, no, the pleasure was mine!" he said, smiling brightly. Sango blushed just a little, looking away, "once again, my gratitude, Hojou."

Ayumi and Eri walked up behind Hojou, Eri holding the monk's staff, and Ayumi cradling Kilala. The fire cat mewed softly as he leapt from Ayumi's arms, making her yelp in surprise as it leapt at Sango, the slayer making a deft one armed grab and cradled the cat to her stomach, which the cat nuzzled into happily, tail wiggling in merriment. "Oh, hello, Kilala!" she said with a smile, then he eyed the girl with Miroku's staff, "Miroku must have wanted you to be armed unless demons showed up, huh?" she asked, folding her arms with a tiny wince in her stern features. Eri blushed and nodded, walking to the wall and placing the staff lightly against it.

Just then, a streak of red caught up the staff and leapt over them in a deft backflip and landed in a crouch, black hair draping the newcomers shoulders, and black ears flicking quickly. Eri smiled "hey Kag! So good to see you back!" the three girls ran over to Kagome as fast as lightning, quickly giving her a group hug, which Kagome gently returned.

Kagome smiled at her friends, looking them over. They seemed to have taken to the transition pretty well. "Now do you believe me?" she asked, giving them each a questioning look. All four of them quickly nodded, "yeah, Kagome! By the way, your past friends are really cool, just wanted to let you know that!" Eri said, smiling softly. "Kagome, I had you wrong, this is truly amazing, it really is!" Houjo said softly, looking up at the sky, "Its just too good to be true!" he cried, spinning on his heels once, looking exstatic. Kagome smiled softly, truly glad that her friends accepted the way she had lived a double life. "Once Inuyasha gets back, were gonna tell you all the whole storahh!" her statement ended in a cry of shock as she was suddenly lifted up and whisked into the hut by a red blur. All of them looked aghast for a second, but then chuckled as they turned and walked into the hut, all of them gathering around the fire, taking their seats as Miroku gave it a quick match from Kagome's gear, and sat back, and began to tell the tale.

Well theres a good chapter, huh? I hope you all like it, because I'm kinda not doing any schoolwork right now, because I am lazy!


	20. Evil Resurrected

Chapter 20: Evil Resurrected

Hojo gave a gentle sigh as he sat back against the side wall of Kaede's hut, or as he respectfully referred to her as, Grandma Kaede's hut. He looked over at a shelf containing several bottles filled with different colored herbs, looking at the small labels with curiosity, and marveling at the magical properties of the herbs that were contained there. He picked one up and studied it closely, studying the faded paper label, it read: "Frog's Eye. Treats: Herniated disks." "Hmm," Hojo thought, "a way to cure damaged bones without surgery… intriguing." He noted the fact that the bottle was half empty, "Either the villagers are having plenty of back problems, or Kaede definitely needs back surgery." He muttered to himself as placed the bottle carefully back in its place, giving a content nod as it settled into its little spot on the shelf.

A voice suddenly snapped him from his reverie, the calm voice of the old priestess gently calling him, "well, Hojo, I didn't know ye had any interest in herbal treatments…" she said, a smile breaking her wrinkled features gracefully as she walked up behind him, then sat next to him with a small noise of old bones falling into a pile, much of a "humph," kind of noise.

Hojo gave a small smile as he looked up at the other treatments, "Grandma Kaede, I was thinking of just going out for a few days, so I was wondering what would be the best herbs for me to take with me." He said in a calm, cheerful voice, pointing to a small pack he had gathered from back home with the aid of Inuyasha to get in and out of the well.

Kaede raised a grey eyebrow, "Alone, Hojo? Aren't ye afraid if ye should come under attack?" she asked with concern, "If you wish, I would like to go with ye." Her old face conveyed a look of joy, as if wishing for an adventure of her own to get her aged body working once more.

Hojo, however, shook his head, "No, Kaede, I believe I would like to go on this journey alone, just find out the lay of the land." He said in a matter-of-fact voice, as though he strutted into demon filled forests on a daily basis.

Kaede gave a small laugh, "alright… but don't expect to come back in one piece…" she said, shaking her head, "ye know, ye remind me a bit of Inuyasha when he was young, such an anxious young lad, but ye have the calmness and attitude of a man, that is where ye are different." She said sagely, just out of the blue as they stared at the herbs.

Hojo smiled softly at the compliment, holding her ancient frame in a benevolent gaze. "Thank you, Grandma Kaede, for the compliment," he said respectfully, giving a small bow of his head as he spoke.

Kaede gave a soft chuckle to this extreme show of respect, "don't call me Grandmother! Please, just call me Kaede, alright? I don't need to feel any older than I do already." She said in a soft, wise voice, her single eye catching his with a smile, which Hojo returned.

Hojo gave yet another gentle nod as he rose, "thank you for your council, Kaede. I appreciate it." He said, giving her his brilliant trademark smile.

Kaede chuckled, "it was nothing, now go on, go on! The world awaits ye…" she gave a smile as Hojo turned, and walked slowly out the door, and out into the forest. Kaede's mouth twitched in worry as she rose laboriously once more, and then shuffled to the wooden curtain that covered her door, and watched as Hojo disappeared into Inuyasha's forest. "That boy… something about him reminds me of someone I know…" she whispered under her breath, her single eye scrutinizing his fading outline until it disappeared to nothing in the dense trees.

Hours later, somewhere in Inuyasha's Forest

Hojo gave a loud sigh as he flumped down against a tree, looking up at the sky dreamily, just watching the clouds float past. It had been a long day's walk, and the sun was setting into the surrounding hills, making him smile gently as he observed the pinks and gold of the pristine sunset. "Wow… its incredible how… peaceful it is here…" he whispered under his breath in disbelief, just taking in the striking scenery.

He sighed once more, pressing his back a bit firmer against the trunk of the large tree he was leaning against. He let his thoughts wander, he thought about the others, Kagome, Inuyasha, Miroku, Sango, Kaede, Eri, Yuki, Ayame, and Shippo. He gave a soft chuckle as he recollected a joke Shippo had played on Inuyasha that Kagome had told him about. He also remembered how shocked he was when Shippo had transformed, and how amazed he had been by his arrival into this world. That was when something moved.

His eyes flashed over to the movement, something low, dark and shuffling in the undergrowth of the woods, he could see it against the semidarkness against the forest floor, a black moving on black. Then a violent red glow came from the "eyes" of the unknown beast, making him start.

He got up and began to run, he didn't care where, and he just knew that he had to keep running. He was running down a lightly worn path, his feet thudding as he ran and the light sound of paws behind him sounding like feathers hitting the ground, almost soundless, but he could hear the body of the beast ripping through the undergrowth, its body "shush, shushing" through the grass and bushes.

He saw a cave in front of him, and he dove inside, not caring whether there were more of the beasts around or inside. He landed badly, and began to roll down a dirt slope, tumbling end over end, and landing in a heap at the bottom of it into a patch of grass. His hand seemed to be burning, which he didn't care about at the moment. He looked up, shocked as the body of a huge wolf was silhouetted against the bright entrance of the cave, but it gave a yip of surprise and ran off, the air around him quickly becoming an eerie silence.

He stayed there for a few minutes, supporting his upper body on his hands, his legs stretched before him, panting and wheezing with exertion, wet with sweat, blinking wildly to keep his coolant out of his eyes. Eventually, after a few minutes, his breathing slowed and calmed. He felt… strange… not tired… but now he felt the burning on his right hand intensifying. He tried to pull it away from the bare spot on the ground, but he couldn't. His flesh seemed as though it had been glued to the bare ground, the burning becoming greater still, a voice, cold as the coldest winter, chuckling in his ear, "You can't win… your mine now…"

Hojo tried to cry out, tried to scream in agony and pain as he began to lose control of his body to this new adversary, but his vocal cords wouldn't move, they wouldn't work! He was looking desperately for a way to escape, but nothing presented itself. His vision was beginning to blur, he felt his body falling, falling down into a black abyss of nothingness, then Hojo knew no more.

Several Hours Later

He woke with a grunt, but for some reason, he was walking. "wh… what? I know I'm not a somnambulist…" he wondered, but was cut off by the cold voice, coming from his mouth now, "great… he's awake…" it seemed to growl, feeling his facial muscles wrinkle in annoyance. His "eyes" widened in shock, "What! Your still here?" his mind cried, astonished. A voice answered his question quickly, "hmmhmm… your part of me now, Hojo… I have your memories, your body, even your soul under my command…"

His mind suddenly broke, heeling as though someone were squeezing him around the middle. "So…" he thought, sealing himself off from the rest of his mind, "who are you, anyway?" he asked, still reeling in the magnitude of losing his own body to a parasite.

The voice seemed to grow colder still as it replied, "I? I go by the name of Naraku… I would like to thank you for letting me revive myself through you… I was beginning to forget what it felt like to have a body…"

He shivered violently in his mind, feeling his fear, and his hatred, beginning to rise. "Naraku, huh? So, will you give me my body back, I kind of need it, you know…"

Hojo jumped as he heard laughter, low and cruel, as thought it wouldn't be out of place in a horror film, beginning to ring in his head, making him desperately try to drown it out. "Stop!" he cried, and felt it come from his vocals now. He felt the presence of the one named "Naraku" beginning to fade, becoming something icy cold in the back of his brain, as though plotting what to do next, biding its time.

He shivered violently, he had to find Kagome now, warn her to get away, as fast as she could. This was dangerous, really dangerous, if he let this person get control of him again, he didn't exactly know the nature of the beast that now lived in his mind, he didn't know what would happen, or how to stop it. He was scared, very scared, but he had to be strong, had to fight. "To think," he thought, making him stop dead, "I have to fight for my own mind…"

The voice chuckled dully, "I know… isn't it wonderful?" it asked, swirling agitatedly in the back of his brain, as though angry at being confined so harshly.

Hojo sighed, "Kaede… I'll ask Kaede about this… she could have some medicine to help me…" so he began to retrace his steps.


	21. Damaged Goods

Chapter 21: Damaged Goods

Kagome's head snapped up from its position on Inuyasha's shoulder like the springing of a trap, her eyes wide and alert, ears fully raised and twitching madly. She had felt something… something extremely… dark… in the air all of a sudden. It had woken her from her slumber with her mate so quickly, that she lost her balance and rolled to his side from sleeping on his chest. She groaned, but still listened, all senses tuned to the once felt presence, but it did not return. "What in Kami's name was that!" she whispered, her eyes wide with confusion and concern. She could have sworn she had felt Hojo's aura... then it seemed to... phase into something else... something bad... but she shook her head, "That never happened to Hojo before... but we'd better check on him." She whispered under her breath as she got up slowly, but was hampered by Inuyasha's arm on her shoulder, keeping her down.

She turned quickly, reaching down to violently shake Inuyasha's shoulder, feeling urgent now. "Inuyasha! Inuyasha, wake up!" she whispered urgently, shaking until a large clawed hand grabbed her wrist, and the brilliant golden eyes, so much like rich honey pots, full to the brim with freshly harvested honey, gazing up at her, taking in the situation and her scent of genuine worry.

"Kagome, what is it, what's wrong?" he whispered, his eyes mirroring her concern as their amber gazes locked.

The confused female gave a sigh, then lifted him to his feet, "There isn't time for chit chat! Something's up! Get dressed and wake the others!" she growled as she quickly slipped into her navy blue, sakura blossom patterned kimono, growling still. That aura was familiar… but where did she recognize it? It was eluding her for some reason, she didn't know why.

He growled as he quickly picked up his kimono, which had been cast aside from last night's mating, a very satisfying experience indeed in his opinion, and stepped into his hairoi and hamaka grumpily. "Kagome, this better not be because you smelled a rabbit or something…"

Kagome gave him a sour look, her eyes narrowing, "can it, Yash, now wake the others!" she ordered, her fangs flashing. Inuyasha had never expected such a violent reaction from his mate, making his eyes widen in a small amout of fear.

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow, "Don't you use that tone when you talk to me, Kagome…" he growled threateningly, his eyes flashing dangerously.

Kagome smirked, reaching up and batting one of his ears, "and what if I do?" she snarled, her eyes heated with annoyance as she shook her head, "drop it, Inuyasha, we have to get out there, now! Something is seriously wrong!" she growled, worry seeping into her voice as she said this, looking around as though searching the room for her companions.

Inuyasha growled loudly, getting up and stalking out of the room, his hair sweeping over his red haroi as he passed, "Your so gonna regret hitting my ear, Kagome… tonight is payback." He whispered under his breath as Kagome gave a light cough.

"I heard that, Inuyasha, and if you do, your gonna get "S'd" like there is no tomorrow, got that?" she growled, her eyes alight with something mischevious

Inuyasha gave her a smirk, "alright sweetheart, you're on!" he whispered as he went to rouse the others.

Back In Inuyasha's Forest

Hojo sighed, looking angrily at the ground. He was giving winces of pain at the asides Naraku was making as he sifted through his memories, making them flash temporarily in his mind's eye before slipping back into his mind for later recall.  
"Hmm… it seems you know Kagome quite well, your from her world, I would take?" he mused, an image of Naraku seeming to scratch his chin as he pondered flitting past.

Hojo smirked, "Wouldn't you like to know?" he asked himself, making Naraku chuckle, "oh yes, yes I would…" Naraku began to burrow feverishly through his memories, sifting and digging, making Hojo take short gasps as he sometimes missed and nicked other things he wasn't supposed to hit. It felt as though millions of termites were unleashed upon his brain, biting and tearing, trying to dig down till his brain was full of tunnels of explored thoughts.

Naraku smiled, "Hmm… so you fancy Kagome…" he said ominously, making Hojo's eyes widen, "Pity..."

"Don't you do anything to her! Naraku I am warning you, if you do anything I swear to Kami I will not let you live…" He snarled, his eyes making him look like a man deranged as he clutched his head, his spine sending jolts of white hot pain up his body, making his back arch into almost a bow shape, his entire body becoming slowlyracked with pain.

"Just tell me what I want to know, and the pain will stop, Hojo…" the voice purred coolly into his conciousness, as the pain continued to slowly build up in his body.

Hojo cried out as he fell to his knees, "Never! I will not surrender!" he screamed as he collapsed, his eyes beginning to blur as his vision caught two forms, one deep blue and silver, followed by another that was red and silver, dashing out of the surrounding trees and running to him. He could hear Kagome's familiar voice call his name, but this call was mangled with the strain of shock and fear. "K… Kagome…" he whispered, looking up at her as his strength began to wane, feeling arms lifting him up, but then releasing him quickly, his eyes half open as he saw the blue figure backing away, just staring at its hands, and he slipped under.

Hojo caughtthe man'sgaunt face and a well dressed body in his mind's eye. Naraku was looking down at him on the ground, chuckling darkly. "Oh dont be so depressed Hojo... once you have served my purposes, then I shall gladly release your weak body... however, I need you..." he purred, his soulless eyes boring into those of his conciousness.

Hojo was glaring angrily up at him, his "lips" parted in a snarl as he hissed, "damn you, Naraku! Damn you to all seven levels of hell!"

Naraku laughed loudly, the cold laughter echoing inHojo's mind, even after his body had gone from him.

Hojo was loosing feeling of his body, he felt as though he was now trapped in his mind with this... this demon... this demon who had no regard for human life and held no room for sympathy within its heart.


	22. Disaster!

Chapter 22: Disaster!

Hojo felt weightless as he began to feel his senses coming back to him, able to feel something very soft under his fingertips, soft whispers were tickling his ears, mystifying him, he could hear, no… feel their presence in the room, that… light and lifting feeling coming back to him whenever that class priestess was around. His eyes fluttered open, slowly focusing onto Kagome's face. Then he realized exactly where he was… Kagome's house. The smells of the shrine, the incense and old parchment was light in the air in the living room, but still distinct enough as though trapped by the fibers of the couch he was laying on. He looked around slowly, then sighed, "Kagome… did I pass out in front of the shrine, because that was one hell of a dream," He watched her expression, sighing as she saw her expression relax, a soft smile crossing her lips.

"Thank Kami your alright, Hojo," she said in a soft tone, "I was wondering about what happened back in Inuyasha's time, why were you clutching your head like that?" she asked, tilting her head as her ears flicked up, twitching in concern.

His eyes widened. If Kagome's transformation was real… then the well… and… Naraku… all real! As if to answer his thoughts, the dull chuckle rumbled in his mind and the cold presence seemed to creep up his spine and once more into his brain. "very observant, Hojo, I'm surprised you thought that I would be a figment of a mere dream…" it whispered, making his face pale, and his eyes bug out as Kagome looked away quickly, cold and shivering.

Hojo looked up in alarm, straightening up and slamming back against the cushions of the couch, his breathing shallow and his heart racing. "No… this cant be possible… he… your still here!" his mind whispered in disbelief. He ran his hands angrily through his hair as he whispered, "Kagome…" then he was gone, his eyes glazing over and a wicked smirk taking shape on his once placid face, his fingers curling into fists of rage as he got up and began to pace, "hmm… now that I have you… what to do with you…" the now colder version of himself whispered, his hand sweeping out, a ball of miasma quickly forming in his palm. It was uncomfortable, and hard to control with this body, and it seemed more acrid in this world than his. "hmm… interesting, your world seems to contain much more evil than even my own…" He purred, his eyes seeming to gain a glimmer of delight as he surrounded the hanyou with a curtain of miasma, forcing her back into a corner, gagging.

Kagome was shocked, to say the least, and this event told her one thing… Naraku was alive and well, and he had to have possessed Hojo, or maybe he was Naraku's incarnation or something… she couldn't think right now, she was to confused, she could feel the little newcomer in her belly rolling around as though he were suffering. This made her not just mad, no, not mad. Fury of an unbelievable proportion swept over her, her fangs showing in a snarl through her coughing, "Naraku!" she gagged, "What the hell! I though I purified you!"

Hojo laughed cruely, sending shivers violently up his captive's spine. "well… you did purify me, but you missed a spot, the point of my transformation into Naraku, I still remained there, waiting for some fool to come and touch that spot… and this idiot did… he didn't feel the dark energy resonating from that wretched point in the world…" he said his voice so cold he should have been breathing clouds of vapor into the air with each word.

Naraku smirked now, but Hojo was screaming, raging and thundering in the back of his mind, feeling surges of hatred toward this cruel… personality that had entered his mind. "No!" he screamed in desperation, "Please! Let her go!"

Naraku laughed even louder now, now seeming amused. "your friend doesn't really like watching you die, Kagome…" he purred, looking around. He could not sense anyone around in the general area around this structure, so he had time. But, did he want to make this quick, or make this bitch pay for the unbelievable pain she had inflicted upon him by tearing him from his body by giving her a slow, painful death from suffocation? He smirked as he slammed a fist hard to her gut, then pulled back, "accept it, and if you do escape… your child will not survive…" he purred to Hojo, just to feel him writhe and scream in despair and agony for his best friend.

Kagome decided that this was quite enough, and decided to run for help, and that's precisely what she did, taking a deep breath, holding it and using her arm to shield her mouth from the acrid fumes, she darted through the thick clouds of miasma, and bolted out the window, the glass shattering brilliantly around her as she rolled on the flagstone ground, feeling a shard of glass lodged in her side. She began to run, tearing out towards the wellhouse, Hojo flying out the door and sprinting after her. She just kept running, flinging herself into the well, not even noticing the blood that soaked through the crotch of her jeans. She hit the ground on the otherside after the otherworldly journey to the past with a loud thud, a groan, then she faded, her eyes closing as the world closed around her, leaving her in darkness.

Kagome woke several hours later with a groan, feeling herself wrapped up in a tight blanket, looking fearfully around, her eyes wide and worried, then she felt the pain, not from her side, but from her stomach. She groaned in agony with the white hot pain, "Inuyasha!" she cried, looking desparately for her mate.

The half demon in question was not long in sprinting into the room and pulling her into his lap, cooing to her, "Shh, mate… shh… I've got you… you're alright…" as he stroked her head, cradling it to his chest, as though it were something extremely fragile that might be broken in an instant.

Kagome whimpered as she nuzzled into his chest, taking in his deep, woodsy scent, and began to slowly relax. "Inuyasha… Hojo… he's… he's been possessed…. B.. by Naraku…" she felt tears of pain searing down her cheeks and dripping onto her mate's bright red haroi.

Inuyasha instinctively stiffened at the name, "what!" he said, totally shocked. Naraku! Alive? Absolutely im-fucking-possible! He was growling now, but a whimper from Kagome silenced it in an instant, "Kagome… when you came up from the well… you were… were…"

Kagome looked up, her tears still running down her cheeks, "Still what... Inuyasha? Tell me, please?" she begged, looking up at him, both of their faces full of worry.

Inuyasha gulped, then closed his eyes as his hands balled into fists, then he buried his head into her shoulder and began to weep, sobbing into her shoulder. Kagome was simply flabberghasted by this, having never really heard or seen Inuyasha in such a state. She reached around and gently rubbed his back, trying to soothe him, "Inuyasha… its alright, please don't cry…" she begged fruitlessly, the sobs going uninterrupted as two pairs of footsteps reached her ears, making her head snap up as Sango and Miroku came, followed by Kaede soon after.

Sango was weeping, burying her face against the monk's shoulder, a tear leaking from his eye as he held her around the waist, rubbing her side in an attempt at comfort. "It's alright, Sango… just let it out…" he whispered as he pulled her into a hug, his eyes closed as he let his face take on a look of deep meditation, taking in a deep, shuddering breath, then slowly letting it out.

Kagome simply looked confused, looking to Kaede, who shook her head. Shippo was nowhere around, he hadn't been around for several days, she surmised from the smell of things, the fox's piney smell very faint in the house when compared to her companion's trademark scents. "Miroku… Kaede… can you tell me what everyone is so sad about?" she asked, her expression looking clearly confused as she looked up from Inuyasha's shoulder, eyes questioning.

Miroku simply shook his head, looking to Kaede, who took a deep breath and started into the room, taking a slow seat next to the grieving hanyous. Kaede's face was taut, as though fighting tears herself. She truly wished this hadn't happened to such a sweet girl as Kagome. Her expression held strain as she spoke, feeling her control getting dragged down with Kagome's expression of dawning realization and utter horror. "Kagome… ye see… ye had a… a miscarriage… you expelled the child while ye were unconscious… it did not survive…"

Wow… There's a downer…

Kyd Fizziks


	23. Grief and Preparations

Chapter 23: Grief and Preparations

"And now he is committed to the grave, and unto the Gods good graces, for he died without blemish, without fault." Kaede said loudly over the wails and cries of the mourners that had assembled around a small hole in the ground in the shrine's small cemetery. A tiny wooden box was slowly lowered into the ground by Inuyasha and Miroku, the silver haired hanyou cursing himself silently, telling himself that it was his fault the baby was lost, his fault that he wasn't there to protect Kagome, he failed… he failed… the words echoed in his head as he released the small box at the bottom of the grave, and as dirt spat down into the tiny hole, quickly covering the small box, his silver tears mixing with the black soil as the hole filled. He saw that his tears of anger and mourning were not the only ones hitting the grave, as Miroku's face was covered with them, shaking his head angrily. He could almost read the message that was in his brain on Miroku's face, that he to had failed in protecting his friend.

"Goodbye… my son…" he whispered quietly, his breath coming forth in shudders as he turned from the grave, seeing Kagome, dressed in a long black kimono, her head in a veil of silver hair as she bawled into her hands, her silvery tears dripping slowly onto the soft grass at their feet. "Kagome…" he whispered, walking forward and quickly taking her into an embrace, her wails of sorrow melding into those of the villagers who had become Kagome's good friends as well, and joined in the groups sorrow.

Sango was there too, quickly taken into her husband's embrace, burying her head into his chest, crying quietly. Miroku buried his nose into her hair, trying to help her feel protected and safe in his arms. "Just let it out, Sango, just let it out…" he whispered quietly, his own voice choked with sobs as his grip tightened around her small frame.

All of them had cried for so long, they were almost cried out, too stricken with grief to cry anymore. It was just so tragic… Kagome having lost her first child and all. Sango's belly had been starting to swell in the last week, a constant reminder to both Inuyasha and Kagome to what they could have had, if Hojo hadn't gone running off like a big time baka.

In the next half hour, the villagers gave their regrets, regards, and consolation to the grieving couple. A few women taking her hands and telling them their losses and things they still grieved even to that day, embracing Kagome like a sister, for that was what she pretty much had become for the whole village, a big sister. A sister who helped them whenever there was trouble, protecting and nursing them when they were Ill or wounded in hunting accidents and the like.

The men would also offer their consolation to the weeping mother, then turn to the father, pat him on the shoulder, and call him a real man for going through this, and that they could come anytime if they needed anything at all, as one man put it, "my house is your house, Defender." That was a little nickname Inuyasha had gained around the village, slowly but surely as the tales of Inuyasha's adventures got around to villages all over Japan. A few men had actually committed themselves to getting it down in writing, feverishly asking around in taverns and inns about stories of the great "Protectors of the Jewel of Four Souls".

The last two to come to console them was Cali and Naja, both looking grim, "we heard about your loss, you have our pity…" Cali said, bowing his head to Inuyasha and Kagome, to which their faces darkened even more. Pity wasn't what they wanted, they wanted their lives back, they wanted to be able to sleep together without fear of causing another of their children to face death with Naraku still on the loose.

Inuyasha's eyes narrowed, snarling, "Alright, look, we don't want pity, okay! We just want… want our pup back…" he ended this with a whimper, as though his resistance and energy had been sucked out of him as he just held Kagome to him, nuzzling into her neck affectionately. Kagome's eyes were red on the edges from crying, as were Inuyasha's, making them seem enraged as their eyes bored into the couple. For the first time, Cali looked ashamed, looking down at the ground, "I am so sorry, Kagome and Inuyasha, I did not intend to upset you…" His voice died in his throat as Inuyasha looked up, his eyes boring even harder into Cali's.

"Look Cali, I think you've worn out your welcome, so why don't you just leave us alone!" The male snarled, giving him and his mate a look of pure anger and grief. Inuyasha really wanted him to just leave them be… they needed to be alone… to talk about something just to get this out of their minds.

Cali nodded as he turned, taking his Mate's black silk covered arm, "Come Naja…" he whispered, as Naja quickly followed, looking back at the couple with concerned eyes as they went into the village to their own hut they had built on the edge of the village limits.

Inuyasha sighed as he looked at Kagome with dark golden eyes, "Kagome… It's gonna be a hard night, isn't it?" he asked, his voice soft and soothing as she nodded, looking up at him, smiling.

"Inuyasha?" She asked, her voice barely a whisper.

"Yes Kagome?" He replied, his eyes begging for a response, and lit up as this one came.

"C… can we try again? I mean… after we sort out Naraku? Because… to be honest I always wanted to have pups with you… almost ever since I met you…"

Inuyasha smiled widely as he hugged her tightly, pulling her to his chest as she nuzzled deeply into it. "Kagome… I… I'd love to…" he purred, licking her cheek lightly, making her sigh and giggle lightly. "Kag… I think we have a demon to slay back in your world… I think we had better bring the others, too…" He whispered, gently rubbing her right ear, making her purr in delight.

Kagome nodded, "At least now we all have something in common, we all have a personal vendetta against Naraku…" she sighed, nuzzling into his neck, giving it a gentle lick, making him shiver in delight, even in the midst of grief.

Inuyasha looked up at the horizon to the west, where the sun was setting. The light shone brilliantly off of their manes, hair glistening as a light breeze blew across the cemetery, making it billow around them, covering them in a veil of silver, the light sobs carried on the wind to the mountains and back again.

That night, at Cali's hut

Cali lay next to his mate in a lover's embrace, her soft cries slowly dying away as the euphoria filled them. They had decided that tonight would be a gentle night, no rough stuff, just lovemaking. He felt her gently nuzzle into his neck, licking at it sluggishly. "mmmm… that was great, Cali…" she purred ,looking up at him with her dark brown eyes, meeting brilliant green orbs, which seemed to smile at her as Cali's deep voice whispered, "mmm… yes… you were wonderful too, my beautiful mate…"

Naja snuggled down against him, moving her head up slowly to take his lips chastely, before gently backing away after he had returned the soft kiss. "Cali?" she asked, looking over his face, trying to see what he was thinking about.

Haru's eyes snapped down to hers, as though surprised she was there, "hmm?"

Naja gave a soft giggle as she held her mate close, "Cali… I feel so bad about Kagome losing her child… I really want to do something to help them… if anything at all…" she whispered quietly, as though afraid of being overheard.

Cali sighed, looking up at the ceiling for a second, then down at her, "Honey… why don't we ask them how we can help them…" he asked softly, "Tomorrow, though," he added, a soft grin crossing his features as he rolled on top of her, his eyes showing flames of passion once more.

Naja cooed, "oh Cali! Were energetic tonight aren't we?" her eyes held the same flames and returned them as she began to roughly nip and lick at his neck, making Cali gasp in surprise and pleasure.

"Mmm… yes Naja, we are, and we are not going to be done for quite a while!" he purred, the night soon filling with the sounds and smells of heavy mating.

The next morning, at Kaede's

In their little adjoining room in Kaede's hut, Inuyasha quickly packed up his meager belongings, and flung them onto his back, smiling gently at his mate, who was hefting Sango onto her back, wishing her an easier trip, as Miroku checked and rechecked the emergency herbal remedy pack he had invented over the course of the last three months. In it he had herbs for maladies ranging from bruising to memory loss to miasma poisoning. He nodded once when he saw that it was all in order, giving a "thumbs-up" to Kagome, except he did it with his pinkie, to which Kagome giggled, noticing he was doing it wrong. "Miroku, wrong finger…" she giggled softly as Miroku looked at his hand, noticing his mistake, and put his thumb in the air, his eyes on his right hand.

The wind tunnel had returned ever since Hojo's possession, and he was out in the gardens, picking herbs when he had felt the usual void in his hand return. He should have know, should have seen it as a sign, but he had accidentally ingested a little myrtletap, making his brain a little listless while he was picking herbs, he noticed the inconsistencies in what he though he had picked and what he had actually picked the next day. "If I had only told Kagome..." He thought angrily, "This wouldn't have happened!" He pulled out his sutras from their storage pin on the wall, putting them in the pocket on the inside of his robes to store them, this one being lined with silver, to keep the holy energy intact while they were being carried, keeping them at maximum effectiveness.

Sango had snuggled down onto Kagome's back, getting comfortable as shippo jumped onto Inuyasha's shoulder, looking him over with an inquisitive glance, "We going somewhere, Inuyasha?" he asked, looking interested.

Inuyasha nodded to him, "Yeah… were gonna take Naraku down once and for all!" he growled, his eyes buring with anger at the man who had destroyed his pup.

Kagome had already escorted Yuki, Ayumi, and Eri back home, telling them to take care and to keep this secret, and definitely stay away from Hojo, no matter how normal he may seem. They had nodded, showing that they understood. Kagome, satisfied, had jumped back down the well and ran back to Kaedes to prepare for their journey.

Just then, a soft mewing came from Sango's kimono as Kilala popped her head out of the folds at her chest, looking excited, making Sango giggle, "hey Kilala, wanna come slay Naraku with us?" she asked, her voice laced with giggles as the fire cat mewed in assent.

Inuyasha gave a curt nod, "Alright, did we forget anything?" he asked, looking them over with an inquisitive eye.

They shook their heads, Kagome already had her bow out, ready to fight. "Lets go, Inuyasha…" she said softly, marching determinately out of the front door, Kaede waving farewell as the others followed her out the door. "Take care, children! See yeselves home safe!" she called, smiling brightly. "go get em', Kagome, make him pay for what he did to ye…" she whispered under her breath, watching them walk quickly into the trees.


	24. Interlude

BET YOU WERENT EXPECTING THIS!

Random Intensity: Interlude

It had been quiet, so very quiet, before the shells began to explode all around Sgt. Baker's foxhole in the middle of the Ardennes forest, on the bank of hill 180. Their small platoon had been assigned to control this ridge, to keep it secure and prevent the Nazi's from taking it at all costs. Basically, they were ordered to stay there, fight German grenadiers and panzer divisions with no support. In summary, it was a suicide mission, but Platoon Charlie from Baker Company, as some called it, "Baker's Dozen", of the 502nd Airborne were ready to take on the assignment, and hold that ridge to the last man. Pvt. Hartsock and Pfc. Legett were also hunkered down with him in his foxhole. "Well," he thought, "if they hit us, we wont know it…" he looked down to his cigarettes, he only had three left. He looked up just slightly, his eyes catching a glimpse at their spilled lunch, which had already frozen solid to the dark earth.

It was 1944, and the deep French winter that had strangled the American 3rd and 5th armies to a grinding halt, here in the Ardennes Forest, where the German Army had blasted their way through only four years earlier. There were still small areas that held the wear and tear from the tank treads of the tanks that had rolled carefully through this forest. To be honest, it amazed Baker how they made it through.

A shell exploded right next to them, and he felt something solid give a resounding ping off of his steel pot. He dove to the ground, slamming hard against the frozen earth below him, his hands flying to his head as though to examine the extent of the damage. All he felt was a large dent in his steel pot, and after a few seconds, he regained his senses, rising slowly to a knee as he heard the shelling starting to ebb away, replaced by the sound of heavy duty engines, and the sounds of treads pulling at icy ground, the constant turning of machinery, and the guttural shouts of Nazi Infantry.

Baker sighed, looking up at Hartsock and Leggett, then nodded, "Here they come boys. Hartsock, use that BAR and lay down some fire, don't let them get up this hill. Leggett, alert the AT teams to get up into the TB's and take care of those tanks when they are sure they can make a hit." His voice was nervous, a little stressed as he looked up at them as they hesitated, their muscles slowed by the cold, the olive drab uniforms a bit stiff from freezing. The Sargent gave a growl, "What are you waiting for you dumb fucks! I said move it!"

Leggett gave a startled yelp and scrambled from the foxhole, glasses askew on his long face as he darted as fast as his legs could carry him, his radio bouncing along on his back as though he were out for a pleasant backpacking trip. Hartsock wasn't very slow on the uptake after the barked order, as the deep throated bark of the automatic rifle sounded into the woods quickly filling with enemy targets.

Sgt. Baker looked over to a small detachment of Germans visible from his position, proceeding up the bluff to his right. One of them was carrying what, from a distance, looked like a long steel bar, and another behind him carrying two small lunchbox sized boxes. But Baker new from experience not to let them set up, for what they carried could easily cut their position into shreds faster than a hot knife through butter. He looked up to the foxhole on his left, where Coriell and McCreavy were dug in, pointed to them, then to the advancing MG42 squad that was setting down their equipment, then pumped his fist at them as though trying to send a punch through the air at the gunner's face. As one, both of them raised their rifles and proceeded to blanket them with shots, but it wasn't going to be enough, or was it? Baker smiled when he saw the loader for the team drop like a sack of potatoes onto the cold earth, the snow quickly turning red around his corpse. The gunner turned as though to check on his fallen companion, when his lower jaw was removed by a well aimed .30-06 round. He fell to the ground, his legs flailing as he grabbed his face, as though trying to substitute the missing flesh and bone with that of his hands. After a minute, the man stopped moving, his legs shuddering, then relaxing slowly, as though he were a cat reclining for an eternal catnap.

Baker turned from this grisly scene and looked down at his cigarettes, instinctively putting one between his lips with a quick motion of his hand before bringing his M1A1 Thompson Submachine Gun to bear on an advancing soldier, cutting across the long lightly wooded field before their position. He waited, tracking him, watching as beads of sweat dripped from his face, caught by a sudden ray of sunlight through the thick fog hovering above their position, and pulled the trigger in a short burst, watching as dirt spit up behind his target, splashes of red intermingled on the wounds in the earth as the man staggered forth on only his right leg, the kneecap of the left shattered by one lucky .45 slug, making blood stain his pristine white snowsuit, turning the left leg of it dark red, and making his camouflage totally useless against the lightly snow-covered ground. Baker pulled his face from the stock of the gun, looking over to the left of the lightly wooded area to see, to his horror, the looming sillouette of a Panzer IV slam through the trees before it, making them slam down to the ground with a uproar of crackling and splintering wood, that he could still here even though he was hundreds of yards away from that area of the battle.

He saw two olive green ghosts flit up to the side of the clearing near the charging mechanical beast, one holding a bazooka, kneeling in front of the V-notch of a tree, settling his launcher on it to steady his aim, his loader holding four rockets from his hands, dropping them down next to their position, ready to go. The loader swiftly slid the first rocket into the back of the bazooka, patting it in so it was at the firing pin. At that exact moment, a German Sargeant spotted them, raising his ugly, dull grey MP40 to his face and fired two shots, taking out the loaders exposed right leg, one to the thigh, and one to the calf, and he dropped, screaming at the top of his lungs for a medic, for mother, anyone to help him. The gunner held his ground as bullets zipped on either side of the tree, or over his helmet or slammed dully into the thick wood. He did not flinch, he ket his sights on the side of that tank. His eyes widened when the turret began to turn in his direction. He let out his breath, held on for one more second, then pulled the trigger. A jet of flame flew from the back of the launcher, then the rocket barreled from the tube, whizzing to its target with a high pitched screech, then slammed into the side of the tank, exploding on the inside of the right track, blowing the gears to ribbons and making the tread grind to a halt.

Baker watched, horrified, as the crippled tank's turret completed it slow rotation towards the AT team, and the muzzle flashed, the tree erupting into a pillar of smoke and a cloud of splinters, several enemy soldiers falling, with large splinters of broken wood puncturing their bodies, one man's head was rolling on the ground, a stake about the side of a football sticking, quivering, in a tree directly behind the trajectory of the projectile and its target, soaked with blood and brains. Baker winced, looking down for a split second, then brought his submachine gun to bear and continued to mow down enemy troops.

Hartsock's BAR was suddenly silenced as something warm and liquid flecked onto his cheek and quickly froze, followed by Hartsock's horrified screaming as he let the weapon fall, his hands on his gut, as though trying to hold in his own guts. Baker reacted instinctively, he pumped his fist once more at the enemy with a resounding shout that was lost in the heat of battle, "TAKE EM OUT!" He dropped to a knee, kneeling over his fallen brother in arms. "Hartsock! Hartsock! Can you hear me? Stop screaming! It's gonna be okay!" he kept saying, as though trying to convince himself that Hartsock was not going to freeze to death in this hole in the ground in the middle of a forest in France.

Hartsock was writhing on the ground like an earthworm, his entire body undulating as warm wetness ran down his leg, red quickly changing the green of his usually squeaky clean GI uniform.

Baker tore at the uniform, tearing its top and Hartsock's white undershirt aside. It was a rifle wound, he could tell, it looked as though some small mammal had dug straight through the young man and hadn't been back to patch up the hole he left. His organs were strewn all over the back of the foxhole, the stink of it filling Baker's nostrils, making him want to vomit but he kept it down and tried to keep Hartsock comfortable as he looked over to the other foxhole, and shouted "Coriell! Get a medic, god damn it!"

Coriell looked confused for a second, but then acted with skill and precision, ducking, then running like a mad man up the hill, making his way back to the medical station at hill 173 directly to their rear.

He growled as he watched McCreavy fall back in his foxhole as his head exploded inside his helmet from a well placed rifle round, the helmet falling to the ground like a marionette that had just had all of its strings cut, his body slumping to the ground, just a corpse now...

"Damn it!" he thought angrily, "Why did they give me this assignment?" he instantly knew the answer, and it was very simple. They were the best, the best trained and the best equipped for the job, all the way from the drops into Normandy to this foxhole, they always were the best.

He came to a decision, and that was clear. He would hold his position, his pride would allow nothing less. he had heard someone say back in drop school, "Retreat! What, that think broken pussies do?" they had all gotten a good laugh out of it,but he was no broken pussy.

"KEEP FIRING!" he cried as he pointed to several targets as he summoned one of the boys over from the left, then brought his hand down, as though he were chopping wood with akarate chop,in the direction of the foxhole that contained the headless man, "defend that position, Tucker!" he shouted, giving a nod as he said these things.

Tucker gave him a quick glance as if to say, "ARE YOU FUCKING NUTS!", but the look cleared after he remembered who and what he was, he was the best, and he ran for the fox hole and took cover, slinging his Springfield 1903 sniper rifle's barrel over the dead paratrooper's chest as he lay in the foxhole, thanking god above for that little bit of cover he had been provided, and looked into his scope.

Through the pristine lens he could see everything occuring in the battle, he had a view of it all. An American counterattack was occuring on the enemy's flank, driving them back and away from the base of the hill, and quickly out of thier range as the soldiers advanced, stopped, advanced, stopped, shoving the white snowsuited german infantry back yards at a time.

Baker smiled. They had survived, but they had lost Hartsock, his last breath echoing in his ear, just that deathrattle, shaking him to the core. Just then, Legget ran back to the foxhole, leaping inside, and landed on the frozen body of Hartsock. It took him a second to realize the man was dead, even though his hand had dug inside the still wet insides for a second, then pulled out, almost black with blood. the man got up quickly, scrambling to his feet and held his hand to his face. "Oh... oh god... oh god..." he whispered over and over again, just staring at his hand and then down to Hartsock's corpse. "Wh... what happened?" he asked, shocked.

Baker smirked, "Leggett... where the hell were you? you should have seen the fireworks..." he laughed, looking out at the advancing olive green uniformed men. Although he was jovial on the outside, inside, he was grieving the losses. he turned quickly, and got out ofthe foxhole. "Leggett, your in command, i have to make a report back to CP."He carefully trudged up the hill, making sure to keep his back well covered by trees so he wouldnt be easy prey for snipers. You had to keep your head at all times in this hell of war, or you'd be dead before you took another step.


	25. A Lull In the Fighting

Random Intensity: continued

Sgt. Matt Baker stormed into the Command Post, looking his regimental officer right in the eye and demanded that his men be cycled through into Bastogne, and given time to get off the front. The deaths of Hartsock and McCreavy had thrown him into a state of rage. He was done, mentally and physically, and so was the rest of his squad, he could tell. Leggett, with his usual bags under the eyes, now looked as though those bags had suddenly become suitcases, his face ashen and only half shaven. Baker could tell that if this young man saw one more dead GI, he would snap like a balsa wood plank under a pounding sledgehammer.

Major Kravitz gave Baker a stern look down his overly large nose, made a face as though he was disgusted, then nodded his head, with a gruff, "Alright, ill send in Charlie Company to slot into your positions around 1530. You and your men keep your eyes out for any more Krauts, you hear me? You may be getting reposted in six hours, but that doesn't mean you let down the watch, got it, Sergeant?" he waved his finger at him, as though he were some naughty school child being told not to do something bad.

The sergeant sighed, giving a crisp salute and a "sir, yes sir!" then about faced, and ran off to his squad, bearing the great news.

When he returned to his company's series of foxholes, he stopped as he saw the bodies of Hartsock and McCreavy were placed in shallow depressions in the ground and covered with a light dusting of dirt and a field blanket, the best they could do for a field burial in these conditions. He did not remove his steel pot, but walked forward, and placed a hand on each of the men's chest, as though trying to console their souls and help them rest easy.

After a few seconds he rose, looking meditative, before Coriell came scrambling up the hill, a German Walther P38 in his hand. "Hey guys! Look at this! It's a fucking Luger!" He said, waving it joyously over his head.

Pvt. Haverson raised his eyebrow as he examined the weapon from a fair distance. "Hey moron, why don't you let me take a look at that really quick?" he asked, his facial expression radiating smugness.

Looking quite happy with himself, Coriell handed the weapon to Haverson, who took the barrel of the weapon, pulled, feeling Coriell getting pulled toward him, then brought his fist down hard on the man's steel helmet, making him yelp loudly in surprise and pain. "This is a Walther P38 you dumb ass!" Haverson yelled, getting a good slap across the top of the helmet in for good measure.

Coriell looked totally deflated, "You… you mean its not a Luger?" he asked, looking up as though he were a child ready to cry after breaking a window while playing baseball in their local sandlot.

Haverson just laughed, "Look at this! I can't believe you can't tell the difference! When you confuse a P38 for a Luger, you should just say that a Grease gun is a Thompson!" He chuckled, slapping his knee for good measure, just to show how funny the situation was.

Coriell blushed, said he had to do more digging for his foxhole, and then flitted, ghostlike, to his hole, feverishly digging, as though trying to bury his embarrassment in the frozen earth.

Baker sighed, looking over his small five man squad. "Well I'll be damned…" he murmured to himself, "the best in the Army, huh? Half of us dead, and were the best in the Army…" He chuckled softly, looking back on the fateful night that he had dropped straight into this hellish war, with nothing but his bare hands to defend himself with. He could remember that night, standing in the door of the C-47 Transport, watching as the batteries of anti-aircraft guns and the blinding light of searchlights suddenly flickered out in front of him, then the shell hit the craft, jostling him hard enough to send him out the door and on his way down. He thanked god that he was already hooked up when that had happened. If he had failed to do so, he would have been the consistency of toothpaste, he knew that.

Baker looked down at the cigarette he had dropped on the ground before tending to Hartsock. He reached down and picked it up with his forefinger and thumb, then brought it up to his eyes as he dropped to a knee. He studied it carefully, rolling it meditatively in his fingers, just staring at it, thinking about how when he died in this war, he wanted to die with a cigarette between his lips, just letting that last puff go before saying goodbye. He smiled at himself, that kind of death would be truly romantic, one to be put in books, in the movies, even. He shook his head, looking up and out over the field of dead young men. He raised an eyebrow as he saw one body move, one in white, he looked like he was going for his rifle, but a sharp crack told him that one of his riflemen had spotted him first, and when he looked back, he saw more red where the man's head had been, now just a bloody stump of a neck, really… not much left to say he still had a head.

He had been chewing on the end of the cig for a few seconds, before he began to taste copper. He plucked the cigarette from his lips and examined the butt of it, seeing that it was stained deep red. He shuddered, realizing that he had just tasted his own squad mate's blood. He smiled suddenly, even in the midst of his horror and got up, walking over to Hartsock's partially covered corpse, smiling down at the staring brown eyes. "Here bud… it's all yours" he smiled as he popped the cigarette into the dead man's mouth, reaching up to his eyes and closing them with his index and middle finger in the "victory" sign, and closed his eyelids, following tradition to the book. "Farewell, good soldier… farewell…" he whispered, replacing the dark green cover over the dead man's face. He looked up once more at the sky, and then let his head return to the business of dealing out death for the next four hours.

"Alright, gents! Fall in!" He yelled, as his five man squad turned and converged on his foxhole, gathered around their squad leader with rapt attention. "Leggett," he continued, "has informed me that the fighters in England and France are grounded, the fog is just too thick for them to hit their targets. We are going without air support until this fog clears, is that understood?" He looked in each of the tired, worn faces, as he smiled. "You boys are damn good men, you know that? I would not want to be out there with any other squad if my life was on the line, you guys have already saved my dumb ass more than a few times." He said, smiling. The smile he was issuing being returned, along with a few light hearted chuckles.

"Keep your heads down, but be vigilant! We don't want our replacements to get slaughtered, so stay alert, that's all I'm asking of you for the next," he looked at his watch, 1200 hours, "three thirty hours, and by the way, does anyone have any extra rations, we dropped ours when the shelling started… and their covered in Hartsock, so I'm going to ask if anyone is willing to share their C-ration with me… is that alright?" He asked, looking up as each member of his squad said in unison, "if you want to share with me, sir, I have no objections."

This made him smile. The six of them made a good family. They watched out for each other, encouraged each other, and congratulated each other. They told each other stories about home, movies, girls, girls, and more girls. They also remembered the stories of those who were gone, Hartsock's times in Little League, Travis' stint in Major League play, and all of Crittenden's letters, which were read at assembly whenever there was a lull in the fighting or the time between battles was interrupted by a sudden peace over the French countryside. These readings were done by none other than Haverson, much to Crittenden's combined delight and embarrassment, but he just laughed it off and had a good time with the rest of them. Stories. Stories of all kinds, he even remembered an argument between Leggett and Hartsock about if Superman and Batman got into a fight, who would win. Leggett kept saying Batman would win, while Hartsock, and pretty much the rest of them, agreed that Superman would kick Batman's sorry ass into next year.

"That is all, gentlemen, now fall out and be careful." He barked in a commanding tone, giving them all a salute, "each and every one of you, were gonna make it, I promise you." He said in a softer tone, giving them a nod. They gave a nod in reply, and fell out as ordered, heading back to their foxholes in short order.

The Sergeant smiled even wider as Haverson sat down next to him as the others dispersed. "Here sir… share mine," he said, a smile on his lips as he set the, what to most palettes, would be a horrifying meal of spam, but to them, it was a godsend. They dug into it quickly, the spam being slightly frozen, but still edible as they let each bite thaw for a minute in their mouths before chewing and swallowing. This slowed their pace a bit, but they had to have made that a five minute lunch. Both of them had lost their hot soup breakfast earlier that morning, and they definitely did not want to lose this meal, as well.

Things were quiet on the bluff overlooking the almost orchard-like field before them, watching for any signs of movement over the next three hours. Sergeant Baker had devoted himself so fully to the task that he jumped when he was tapped on the shoulder by another man in fatigues. "Sir, we are the replacements, Dog Platoon" He said, his larger jowls quivering as he spoke.

Baker gave a relieved sigh as he reached for the man's hand, feeling fat, warm fingers taking his hand and giving a good, hearty squeeze. "This boy is pretty big to be a paratrooper," he thought, giving him a look over. The man before him could best be described as… roley poley, with a little bit of a gut, and a shock of blonde hair peeking out from under his dark green steel pot. He wasn't exactly fat, but his girth was… Healthy was the best way he could describe him. He had a strong grip, denoting that not all of it was fat, but that the fat concealed a stronger person beneath the flabby façade.

He seemed to be a man of good character and good will, probably very light hearted and full of life, someone he didn't see as being the best person for the position of Sergeant. Baker sighed, then quickly began to inform the Sergeant about the situation and about the action a few hours before hand. "And be careful, okay?" he concluded, looking into his shockingly blue eyes.

The large Sergeant nodded, "Alright, I'll watch my step" he said, giving a soft chuckle as he broke the other Sergeant's gaze, setting off into the foxhole, taking up most of it with his own body, the frozen blood under his feet cracking under his weight.

Baker turned to his company, calling out, "Fall in! Get ready or a few hours of sleep and a hot meal." He chuckled as he began to hike up the side of the hill, thinking about exactly what that hot meal would entail, as the rest of his men fell in step behind him.


	26. Meeting of Fates

Random Intensity: Defend the Well!

"Never," Baker thought to himself, "never ever has a hot meal tasted so good." It was late, very late, the only light was that of the few working streetlights and the flashes of light on the horizon from the heavy fighting occurring in a bright crescent somewhere out there, just a few miles from the front line. He watched the flashes for a while, standing in the midst of the town, under the dark form that was the great cathedral of Bastogne just off the town square. He laid his head back on a pile of stone rubble, just watching, letting his thoughts wander over what had occurred, and what had been lost that morning. He let his eyes pull from the sky and looked over down the road, seeing some soldiers huddled around a gas filled hole dug in a garden, flames spitting from it as though summoned from the depths of hell, rubbing their hands in its warmth.

He shivered a bit as he rose, wanting to feel the heat as well, slowly making his way to the tall flames, lighting up the faces of Leggett, Haverson, O'Malley, Coriell, and Nash. He smiled as he walked amongst them, getting smiles and nods as he sat amongst them. "Well gents, how was dinner?" He asked casually, as he received smiles from grease covered lips, showing him their approval of their previous meal.

The rumbles of distant artillery broke the chatter, making them become silent, listening for the whistles and booms of the shells, wondering if they were going to be falling into the deathly quiet town. They breathed a collective sigh of relief as the booms were distant, far off, not aimed at them but aimed as some other picket line several miles outside the town's low walls.

Baker gave a nod, "Gentlemen, take your sleep and take it well, 'cuz we move out of here at daylight thirty, got it?" he informed them in a weary tone as he rose to his feet, and headed off for one of the standing houses. Many of them were missing doors and shutters, having been used for fortifying the defenses of the town's walls.

He leaned up against one of the walls of the place, looking around as he felt his mind beginning to numb with sleep. A roughly made table, a few chairs, a fireplace, few pictures on the walls. It wasn't much, but it would suffice for what he was used to now, the meager conditions of living. He sighed, placing his back to the corner, "Now," he thought, his mind shutting down, "time to get some sleep..." his helmet lay lightly against the brick wall, his eyes closed as he slipped under, the soft tramp of boots sounding dully in his ears, not enough to wake him up, but enough to keep him from sleeping totally. He could hear the floor faintly creak as the noise subsided, and he finally, finally could rest...

When daylight peered in through the window, his eyes creaked open as though they were rusted shit, making him rub at his closed eyes. He blinked once, twice, then looked around to his sleeping comrades. He smiled inwardly at them, his brothers... "Alright! Everybody up! Let's move! On the double!" he shouted as he got to his feet, the five other men getting up from their sleeping positions, Leggett getting up from one of the chairs, Haverson looking blearily up from the opposite corner, giving a massive yawn as he rose and stretched. O'Malley was already awake he saw, standing in the doorway, watching the colors of dawn collecting in the east, the light catching his red hair and making it shine red-gold in the new dawn. Nash's body turned from the top of the table with his eyes still closed as he rose, a rather comic look of dog tiredness on his face as he raised his eyebrows as if to say, "You're asking me to get up, Mac? Well, better call later!"

Nash was a young guy, with barely any hair on his face except for a newly emerging mustache. He was fairly tall, about 5'10"", and skinny, his GI uni hanging loosely off of him. Baker knew Nash from back in New Greenland, Iowa. He was, of course, one of his closest friends from New Greenland Public High School. Nash currently smiled, and said, "Go Raiders," holding up his hand for a high five, which Baker gladly returned with a jovial shout of "Go Raiders!" The mascot of New Greenland High was a Viking warrior.

Baker smiled as he turned and walked out the door, patting O'Malley on the shoulder as he passed him. O'Malley and Hartsock had been the best of friends, and O'Malley had been pinned down along with Nash in their foxhole, unable to help Hartsock while he slowly bled to death at the bottom of Baker's foxhole. O'Malley let out a long sigh before trudging after his NCO, wanting to do something besides sitting and thinking, which was what he had done all night.

A few minutes later, Baker and O'Malley were walking slowly back from division CP with a small letter clutched in Baker's right hand. He opened it again, and quickly scanned the lines. He looked up from the letter with a long sigh, "Great... now we have to go defend some dry well in the middle of the woods, what the hell kind of assignment is this, anyway?" he asked himself, just staring at the coordinates he was given to defend, codenamed "point Charlie". He gave another long sigh, looking up as he walked to the front door, spotting the platoon, ready to go. They had even taken the liberty of repacking his knapsack. "Gents, this is a weapons and ammo only mission, and bring a C and two K-rations with you, we are going to be defending a checkpoint overnight." He said, gaining the small sigh of having to go back into combat once more. "Any questions, gentlemen?" he asked, looking around with a steely eye. He was hoping no questions were going to be asked, because if they knew they were defending an old well, there would be hell to pay. "Ok, no questions." He said simply, "drop your gear, weapons and ammo only, we're moving out!"

And they were off to their post, marching out of the west entrance to the town and then south for about 3 miles. Then they took a bearing of 160 for another 500 yards and they were there. The well looking as though it had been put there, but nothing else was, just a few small stone embankments and other things, the well, which looked as though if you touched it, it would collapse, just loomed in the clearing around it, as though it were a monument to some great accomplishment.

back with the Inu Gang

It had taken them a while, but they made it to the well. It seemed that Inuyasha had led them the wrong way, getting them lost for about an hour, so the sun was just peeking up over the trees when they found it. They jumped into the well with miroku and shippo in Inuyasha's arms, and Sango on Kagome's back.

They watched as the familiar blue light encircled them, but it changed mid stream, seeming to suck violently at the group, contorting their bodies in ways they had never been. When it was all said and done, they were deposited in a place that was very, very cold, chilling Inuyasha's ears and making them burrow deeply into his hair. Kagome was already shivering, and so was Shippo, the half demoness pulling the little demon tight to her chest, trying to keep it warm. "GOD IT'S COLD!" they all seemed to shout at once, huddling at the bottom of the well for warmth.

Two heads poked out above the shivering mass, "Hey fellas, get some rope! There are people down here!" one of them called, then one looked down and held out an arm to them as though telling them to stay put. "Stay calm, we'll get you out!" There was the sound of boots on the ground above them heading in one direction, then the thuds of three bodies against the hard dirt.

Kagome was unbelievably confused, "What the hell is going on, Inuyasha!" she asked, her face worried.

Inuyasha shook his head, "Hey! don't look at me for answers! I should be asking you what the hell just happened in the well!" He growled, looking angrily up at her.


	27. A Lesson in Self Defense

Ten minutes later, they were all safe and sound at the top of the well, after Sango's wise decision to tell Shippo to transform into a normal human when the men above them were out of sight.

Once they were on the surface, one of the men quickly came, introducing himself as Sgt. Baker, and draped a service blanket over Kagome's shoulders, trying to protect her from the chill. Kagome wrinkled her nose at the heavy smell of sweat and exhaustion on the blanket, but it was warm, and she had absolutely no complaints about being warm. She murmured a quick "thank you", and with their ears tucked securely under their hair, Inuyasha and Kagome quickly ran over to a tree, Inuyasha looking thoroughly confused as he whispered in Japanese, his native and only language, "What the hell just happened back there!"

Kagome's eyes widened as she realized she was the only one who could speak or understand English, and from the look of the men's uniforms, this had to be the forties. Kagome whispered back to Inuyasha quickly, "I don't know, but one thing is for sure, don't talk to them… just tell me what you want to say and ill say it if I deem it appropriate." She rose, approaching the Sergeant once more, holding out her hand, "Hi, thank you so much for rescuing us Sgt… Baker, is it?" She asked, her accent very well hidden with her rigorous classes in English.

The man gave a small smile, his eyes smiling as he looked down at her, taking her hand gently and shaking, "Nice to meet you, this is Bravo platoon, Baker company, 502nd Airborne regiment. Welcome to the squad, ma'am…" Kagome noticed that he had a bit of a Midwestern draw to his voice, but she smiled, putting that in the back of her mind for later. Baker took a look at the new comers, "What you guys headed to, anyway? The USO Circus?" he asked, nodding to their strange clothing, especially the silver haired man that stood before him, looking rather tense.

Kagome gave a small smile as she waved her hand, "If I told you, you really wouldn't believe me…" she added, giving a small laugh, trying to relieve the tightness building in her stomach from nerves of being found out, and if they were, what would happen to them.

Baker's eyes suddenly narrowed, his brown eyes boring into her amber ones, "Try me…" he said, almost in a growl. He had been trained to get every scrap of intelligence he could. In war, intelligence could save soldiers lives, and he didn't want to be responsible for more letters going home to break mother's hearts and families apart just because he didn't ask enough questions.

Inuyasha's nose twitched, and his eyes widened. "Shit… Kagome's fear scent just spiked… just act normal, be passive, don't talk…" he whispered to himself mentally, closing his eyes and taking deep breaths, then opened them, getting a good look at his surroundings, noticing that every single one of the men around them was staring either at Kagome or himself. He gulped once, he hated being stared at like that…

Kagome stuttered, eyes widened a bit as she let an ear flick out of her hair delicately, "lets just say, that's a secret I'd like to keep," her voice had become silky smooth as she spoke, her pupils becoming cat-like slits.

The man before her jumped a full five feet backward, landing on his ass, then scrambled back up, snow and dirt falling from his pants. "Wh… what the hell are you!" he stammered, staring at her now, his Thompson already leveling to his shoulder, the muzzle pointed right in her face.

Kagome stared blankly down the barrel of the weapon. She could smell the sulfurous scent of the gunpowder from its previous firing, and it was a very powerful smell, indeed. It made her want to throw up, but she held it down, her face void of color as she looked up at him with fearful eyes. "L… look… I… I mean you no harm… just…" she paused, her ears twitching, then swiveled around to face the east side of the clearing at the well. "Some people are coming… I can hear their voices…" she whispered, then ran for cover, hiding under one of the stone walls at the west end of the clearing, ducking down.

Baker raised an eyebrow, "I don't hear nothing… what're you talkin' about?" He said skeptically, but made his way to one of the walls to the north, quickly pointing to Squad Alpha and setting them up around Kagome's position at the west side of the clearing, then put bravo squad at his point at the north wall, their guns bristling from them as Baker waved to the four others, and they quickly ran to their position. Baker watched the woman running as fast as she could, her belly sticking out in the frilly garment she was wearing, it was obvious to Baker that she was with child. The man behind her was dressed in purple and black robes and carried what seemed to be a dangerous staff with six rings on the golden crown, three on each blade of the vicious looking headpiece. The other silver haired individual ran quicker than the rest, in the lead with what seemed to be a young man on his back, dressed in a small, frilly garment just like the woman's.

Squad Alpha, consiting of O'Malley, Haverson, and Nash were ready and waiting, whispering in soft voices, "Do you have any idea what the hell is going on?" Nash asked, looking up from the sight of the M1 Garand he was carrying over at O'Malley and Haverson to his right. They both shook their heads and O'Malley reached up and put a finger to his lips, telling Nash to be quiet. Nash quickly did so, returning to his sight and watched and waited.

A sickly silence was falling upon the small position as they watched, waited, and listened. The silence was dented by the soft sound of voices, harsh and guttural, and soft chortling. Baker's eyes widened, as he turned to look at the Kagome, seeing her already pointing to a point to his right, making him swivel his Thompson to the right just as the enemy was becoming visible, their bodies concealed by the shrubbery and trees as they passed, coming along across their field of view, obviously headed in the direction of Bastogne. Their voices were a little bit more boyish than those of the crack grenadiers, so they had probably come across some reserves, the young boys and old men who seemed to be visiting them with more and more frequency, showing their lack of battlefield skill with their sloppy tactics.

One of them stopped, looking towards their position, but must not have seen the silver grey of the gunbarrels pointing right at them, and saw the well, because the man gave a smile and called something to the men behind him, then pointed to the well.

Baker held up his hand, the universal sign for holding fire. "Let's just see what they do…" Kagome heard him murmur to himself. She was anxious, her ears already tucked into her hair, ready for the eruption of noise that was probably about to ensue as the young squad leader walked into the clearing from the south, looking anxious about something, the rest of his squad holding behind the shrubline. "Pretty admirable… but very stupid" Baker murmured once more.

The young man had his MP40 at his side as he walked slowly forward, trying to be cautious. "Good" he though, "No damn Americans around…. Let's see if we can get a canteen fill." He walked quickly over to the well and gave a look, then reached for a stone, tossed it up and down twice in his palm, then dropped it down into the well, listening for a splash. As he leaned down to listen, he saw a glint of light to his left, then his eyes widened as he saw the green helmet in his view. He sprung away from the well, screaming, "Kontakt Link! Kontakt Link!" as he ran back as fast as his legs could carry him. Then the clearing erupted in explosions, along with two consecutive yelps of pain and fear as the two half dog demons cowered, claws slammed down on their ears, trying to keep their eardrums from exploding.

Baker called, "That's it, boys! Get 'em!" as he pounded his fist at them in the signal to open fire, "GIVE 'EM HELL!"

It was over before it had even started. The forest before them was strewn with white and gray bodies, contorted in what seemed to be impossible positions, blood pooling at random points on the ground below them. The soldiers gave a whoop of glee as O'Malley rose from his position, only to take a bullet to the shoulder after a sharp clap of a rifle and the smack of the bulled against his flesh sounded in Kagome's ear. "FUCK! I'M HIT!" He screamed, gripping his shoulder with a vice grip as his uniform's shoulder was quickly reddening. The man in purple quickly got up and ran as fast as he could, kneeling next to him in an instant, pulling out a large leather pouch from within his robes, a hand on the wounded man's chest, and he suddenly became calm, his cries becoming smaller and smaller until they were down to moans of pain. Baker was amazed, he had never seen or heard of anything like this…

Miroku opened the pouch and looked at each of the herbs he had, finding the one for deep wounds and heavy bleeding. He pinched the powders onto the wound, and the bleeding suddenly ceased. Kagome turned and quickly gave Miroku the blanket she had been wearing. He draped it over the wounded man, "Take it easy, young man… you're going to be alright," He said softly in his native tongue, making him give an odd face of non comprehension.

Nash turned to Haverson, "Hey! Does that guys jibberish sound like Nip to you?" he asked, looking over them. "Now that I think of it… they are all Nips…" he growled to himself, the radio broadcast of December 7, 1941 playing over and over in his head. He hated them for what they did, what they did to those unsuspecting sailors. He turned suddenly, his M1 Garand trained on Miroku's head as he leaned over the wounded O'Malley, finger on the trigger, but Haverson was on him as quick as a rabbit, using his hand and slamming his palm underneath the muzzle of the rifle, throwing his aim as he pulled the trigger, the loud "PTHOT!" of the rifle sounding in the quiet trees, then silence. "CANT YOU SEE! THAT'S A NIP! THEYRE ALL NIPS! EVERY ONE OF THEM!" He yelled at the top of his lungs, seething with rage and anger.

Miroku felt his hair suddenly getting a clip as the round whizzed past his head with a loud "ZIP!". He fell backwards, looking up at the man who had fired the shot as he was tackled to the ground by Haverson, who quickly separated the man from his rifle.


	28. The Sniping Hanyous

The Sniping Hanyous

Baker sighed as he sat against his low wall back in town, thinking over the day that had passed by, and the events that had left him reeling. He now had a squad of seven, with, God forbid, a women in tow. He had figured that they would be excellent additions to his squad. For one thing, the two freaks that were with them seemed to make him feel… confident. In addition, he was scrambling to get every man available equipped and ready to defend this small town at the crux of six roads. He knew they were the last guard… if the Krauts got through… he didn't want to think about that, he had a job to do.

He rose, sighing once more under the burden of both his pack, and his responsibility. He walked quickly back through the small roads, being careful to stay off of the roads, since it seemed that the accurate German gunners, with there 88mm artillery, had some of the roads zeroed already. He had already picked off two spotters with a Springfield 1903 he had with him, a "present" from good ole Private Tucker. Tucker had bit it earlier in one of those surprise artillery barrages upon the town. He was walking a few feet aheaed of the rest of the squad. There was a screech of a single shell, a test shot. The gunners seemed to need to check where they were shooting now, taking a shot for their spotter to radio back if they were at an effective angle, and if not, to give them better coordinates to fire upon, with minor corrections in degrees and angles. Tucker never knew what hit him, nor would he ever, since the biggest part of him they could find was an undamaged finger, and his trusty Springfield, amazingly undamaged. He had kept it slung on his back ever since.

He growled to himself, feeling anger welling up inside him at the idiot gunner who had killed his sniper. He would need a new one, and most of his men, being football players back from their respective highschools, didn't seem to fit the bill for a high quality sniper. Tucker had been small, light, and nimble. He had had nerves of steel, never showing hesitation when the going got toughest. It really was a pity though, since that young man had only been at the front for six weeks, then the only thing his parents would get from it is a box with a finger in it, and a Purple Heart. He shook his head, looking down at the ground and giving it a rough scuff with his boot, a small pebble flying from his toe and running out into the road before him.

He watched as a Jeep flew past on the crater filled road, watching it leaping out from the bottom of a crater, taking an enormous leap across the width of what he could see, the two men inside giving a loud whoop as the Jeep landed hard, the shocks slamming the two young men out of their seats, then slamming them back down, both laughing raucously. He smiled, walking out across the road and walking down the road they had affectionately named "Baker street". However, you were not going to find any Sherlock Holmes on this small thoroughfare. You were probably more likely to see two Japanese people huddled up in one of the collapsed buildings, one in a olive green U.S. Army uniform, and the other in his same old red frilly thing that he still hadn't asked about.

Baker walked into the shell ravaged living room, a corner of it showing the scar of a shell blasting straight through it and into the next house, which was completely destroyed. His arms were folded as he looked over at the two huddled in the corner talking quietly. He interrupted their conversation with a clearing of his throat, "Ahem…"

The two turned quickly, almost fearful, looking up at him, especially the male, his eyes wide, but they suddenly returned to a more neutral expression. The male rose, snapping his heels together and pulling a crisp salute, "Sir! Pri…Private Inuyasha Repawting fow duty sir!" This made Baker smile softly, "At ease, soldier… so, how are you guys adjusting? And Kagome, did you start teaching Inu… Inuhasha the commands?" He asked, taking off his dark green helmet and took a seet next to them, giving them a warm smile.

Kagome gave him a warm smile, and a curt nod, "yeah, we are doing fine here, sir…" she said gently, looking up through a gaping hole in the roof. "So… this is what war is like, huh?" she asked, her fingers fiddling with the small leather pouch Miroku had left with them before he took his pregnant wife back through the well, with inuyasha's help. "Oh, and by the way," she added, "his name is Inuyasha."

Baker blushed softly at his correction, "Thank you, Higurashi, your correction is noted." He said, looking up at where she was, "To be honest, its been months… no… about a year since I've talked to a woman who spoke English…" he said, looking back over at her. "I kind of forgot how comforting you guys are…" he added with a smile.

She gave him a gentle smile, "No problem, it's the woman's touch, I guess." She said with a small laugh.

Baker returned the gentle laugh, "Oh, and by the way, I was coming here to tell you that I have your job for the squad," he added, unslinging his Springfield from his back.

Kagome raised an eyebrow, "and what is this job you have for me?" she asked, actually curious.

Baker gave a soft smile as he handed her the well cleaned Springfield rifle. "Well, Tucker had an unfortunate accident earlier this morning… and we are in need of a sniper, and you seem to be the one who would be the best for the job." He smiled as he watched her hands shake a bit as she held it. "yeah, Tucker took really good care of that rifle, so I expect that you will do the same."

Kagome sighed, looking down at the rifle, looking at the small notches in the beautiful wood stock. "Th… thank you, Sergeant." She stammered, looking up. Great, so she had to go from a bow to a rifle. She smiled, she was pretty accurate with a bow, she had been working on it for a while. In addition, she wouldn't have to retrieve her arrows, and she was pretty sure she could drop someone with relative ease with a rifle like this. She took a look down the sight as she raised the rifle to her shoulder, which she could support with ease now with her half demon strength. She nodded, satisfied as she opened the bolt, seeing the rifle was fully loaded already, ready for her to fire at any time.

Inuyasha was watching her with mild interest, watching her hands work their way around the rifle. He gave a content smile as he whispered to Kagome in his native tongue, "And what about me?"

Kagome nodded, looking up to the sergeant with a curious expression, "And what about Inuyasha?" she asked, tilting her head a bit, her ears barely flicking out of her hair.

He smiled as he nodded. "Well… I was planning for Inuyasha to be your spotter, pointing out targets for you and giving your flank cover, as well." He said, unslinging his Thompson and laying it before him. He then pointed to the weapon, then up at him, then mimed bringing the weapon to his shoulder and looking down the sight.

Inuyasha nodded in understanding, picking up the weapon and bringing it to his shoulder looking down the sight, pointing it at a wall and squeezing the trigger. A series of loud reports barked from the weapon, making Inuyasha yelp in surprise and drop it.

Baker gave a soft laugh as he watched this, giving a small smile as he gave him a pat on the back, looking to Kagome and saying, "I'm sure he will get used to it, were gonna need you out on the northern ramparts of town tomorrow at dawn. It seems the Germans are now within a mile of town, and are ready to advance and assault. You need to work on getting your aim steady and also try a cig, it will cool your nerves beforehand." He said, rising to his feet. "See you at sunrise." He said coolly, turning and heading slowly out the door, "Good night, ladies and gentlemen." He added as he walked out, going into the adjacent house.

The two half demons just stared at each other, Kagome dropping the rifle quickly and launching herself into her protector's arms, nuzzling into his chest gently. Inuyasha's arms wrapped around her like a thick blanket, keeping her close. They stayed like that for a few minutes, before Inuyasha realized Kagome had fallen asleep in his arms. He smiled, nuzzling her neck once and bringing her into his lap, pulling her close to him and just holding her, letting the night close in around him, ears now dulled to the distant thudding and thrum of engines just a few miles away from them.


	29. Red Snow

"White… so white…" The fairly short young Japanese man thought as he looked over the scene before him, his violet eyes taking in his surroundings suspiciously. His eyes crept from tree to tree; trying to look for the men in grey he was told about back at the town they had arrived at. In his mind, there had been very much confusion and ruckus caused by some strange contraptions rumbling down the roads like great iron dragons, ready to strike with crushing force. He was lying in the white snow, his staff at his side. He had refused a weapon, saying he was a man of peace, and the men there just looked at each other and shrugged, pointing him to a small tent, where he was given strict sounding orders by a man with many ribbons on his olive green uniform. Even though he had no clue what was going on strategically with this army, he decided to do as they did. He had watched the small squad of men he had been assigned to creep out of the town and silently slip into the undergrowth of the surrounding forests.

It was dark, and extremely cold. He could feel his limbs beginning to freeze up, his reactions becoming slowed by the cold. He cursed the cold that gripped the air, making it seem as though if he swung something through it, it would erupt and open up a new realm of existence, just like a mirror. "Or the well…" he though, his thoughts mulling over how the hell they had gotten to this juncture.

Everything was so sharp; he could see pine needles through the undergrowth from about 100 yards away. His eyes caught a flurry of movement, and his body reacted automatically, wheeling towards the disturbance to his right, and lunged, sweeping his staff through some obscuring branches. He had swung low, and a scream of pain and long guttural phrases of what seemed to be curses as he heard the thing topple through the brush, then land on the ground with a loud grunt. Miroku dropped to a knee, looking down, and saw a young man. He couldn't have been more than fifteen years of age, lying next to a pair of upright combat boots. He stared at them, then saw that steam was rising from the insides, and a little bit of grey pant leg stuck out of it, showing him that those boots were still occupied.

He winced in pity, his eyes suddenly growing wide as he saw the metal fire stick that had been wielded throughout these engagements leveled right at his head. He felt the cold muzzle of the barrel against his forehead, the metal sticking to his skin, making him wince a bit more as he saw a small grin form on the boys paper white face.

The next few seconds were a blur of movement as a tiny ball of fur slammed into the boys arm, making his gun fall away from the monk's head and dispense its deadly spray just inches from Miroku's right ear, making him shoot back and onto the ground in alarm and a plume of white powder. The next thing he knew, he saw a young, very familiar fanged smile looking down at him. "Bet your glad I came along!" a grinning Shippo announced to the befuddled monk.

"Sh… Shippo! How did you get out here?" He asked, looking him over as if he were making sure this was the genuine fox kit.

"I had to give them candy to let me come!" He cried, looking a little perturbed that he had not been let onto such a dangerous mission without the need to use bribery. A few feet to the right of the talking pair, a large blossom of red began to bloom onto the fluffy white snow, soaking it into a red slush, then it froze over the next few minutes, leaving a frozen memorial to the young man who had fallen just minutes before.

In the town, the early morning light shimmered weakly over the shattered village rooftops and barely lit the dirt roads, which served as its main thoroughfares. The pair of half demons skirted the walls on the sides of the roads, trying to stay off the roads, which took light shelling from time to time. Inuyasha had taken a bed sheet from the upstairs of the building they had slept in and draped it delicately over his fire rat fur, taking the advice from Sgt. Baker when he came to give them their orders of using it as camouflage. The sheet worked fairly well, even though it left his feet exposed, which served to allow a different problem as he put a hand on Kagome's shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze to signal to her that he needed to talk with her. "Whats wrong, Inuyasha?" she asked quietly, looking into his eyes. She saw that her mate was shivering.

"F…f…feet… c… cold…" he stammered, his teeth chattering, hands rubbing the outsides of his arms quickly, trying to stay warm.

Kagome was shocked, dropping to a knee quickly and tore off her service blanket, using her claws to rip it in half, then wrapped it securely around her mate's feet as though she had been trained to do this. "There you go, sweety…" she whispered, smiling lightly up at her love.

Inuyasha smiled, nodding down at her in thanks as he started off ahead of her. "C'mon, we've got to get to the northern outskirts…" he growled roughly, trotting off to the northern edge of the town.

When they arrived there,Inuyasha spotted a four-story house to his left, making him smile back at his mate, then point to the building. "Up there! You should get a good view from up there, don't you think?" He asked, looking expectant of praise for his quick thinking.

Kagome thought for a second, then nodded. "Right… we set up on the second floor."

Inuyasha stared at her, face filled with confusion. "The second floor?" he asked, "Why not the fourth floor?"

She shook her head, "If we get hit by artillery, I think I'd rather be on a lower floor so we could get out quicker…" she said, her voice trailing off. They could die here… in an instant… they could be blown all over this village and nobody would know the wiser. Mom, Gramps and Souta suddenly flashed before him, all of those wonderful memories, the conversations with her mother about Inuyasha and why he was such a touchy kind of guy. With Grampa, telling her that Inuyasha was a no good hanyou, and Souta, not exactly seeing it, but hearing it, "I think I have a new hero…" She frowned, dashing into the building overlooking the no-man's land that spanned the three hundred yards between the low city walls and the treeline of the surrounding forest.

After running up the rickety looking wooden stairs in the back of the building, tearing through freshly made cobwebs as they ran, they came to a small room on the second floor at the end of a short, dark hallway. Inuyasha suddenly grabbed her shoulder as Kagome reached in front of her to the doorknob, making her halt dead in her tracks. "Kagome… don't move…" He whispered, suddenly sliding onto his belly and peering under the door, investigating the wood flooring and the object placed on it. He sniffed, the scent of sweat and a long absents of any form of bathing came to him, making him wrinkle his nose in disgust. He slowly rose, then straightened himself in front of the door, then his right foot came up and slammed into the door. The heavy barrier flew with a crash into the corner of the small bedroom they now found themselves in, and found to their horror, that they were not alone, more of those men in grey they had found yesterday wheeling on them, helmets off, their blonde hair seeming to shimmer in the weak sunlight as they looked in horror up at them.

Inuyasha scoffed, looking down at them with a smirk, "Just young boys and old men…" he thought, giving them all piercing looks down the sight of his Thompson, which was now raised to his shoulder, which he had been working on an hour before Kagome had awoken. He had not stopped in his training to handle the beautifully crafted fire spitting machine. He knew better than to wield tetsuiga around here. He had figured out the logic from watching men firing muskets back at the major towns, and in a few battles he had witnessed between humans, watching the color and the glory and the savagery from afar. He knew that the sword would do him no good in this kind of environment.

Indeed, the men they had stumbled upon were just as Inuyasha had said, just young boys and old men. There were four of them in that small room, the largest one, a grizzly looking man with graying hair, whom Inuyasha supposed was their leader, looked up to him with a tired expression, his right hand dipping to his belt, where he pulled a beautifully crafted pistol. Inuyasha spotted the movement, and did not hesitate in firing off a three shot burst from the weapon, two of the projectiles slamming into his chest, the other drilling a hole straight through his unhelmeted skull. The man fell back with a thud, the pistol flying out of his hand and landing at the other men's feet. The other three men, or boys, huddled together in their corner of the room, horrified as their hand dropped their weapons, and two of them began to cry, shrinking away from the two people who had entered and killed their leader. The third looked angered, and tried to reach for his pistol as well, but kagome was on him, grabbing him by the throat and slamming him to the wall. "Just what do you think your doing, kid!" she shouted, her eyes blazing with anger as she batted the pistol out of his now trembling hand.

The tears began to collect in the boys eyes, he was only about 16, and the boys below him were obviously a little younger. He began to whimper in terror, stumbling over his words, trying to make some sense as he squirmed in pure terror, eyes wide and bulging.

Kagome sighed, letting the boy down gently, looking at the small pile of weapons at the children's feet, a bazooka like weapon, a few shining machine pistols, and a Luger was now at the boys feet. She picked it up, and without thinking, pocketed it, shaking her head. "Shame on you…" she muttered in Japanese, "You should be at home! This isn't a place for children!" she growled, looking them over scrutinously, making them huddle closer together in fear. Kagome looked back at her mate, grabbing the bedsheet from him and setting it over the weapons at her feet, as though saying they were "off limits" to the children, shaking a scolding finger at them.

She gave them another hard look, then, knowing they were not going to do much, she turned to Inuyasha. "keep an eye on them, Inuyasha, and if they do anything, just escort them back to the center of town, then get back here as quick as you can, alright?" she asked, looking right into his eyes as she spoke.

Inuyasha was, quite frankly, amazed by her cool headedness and her ability to completely disarm these soldiers, then nodded, showing she understood her "command". "You got it, Kagome…" was all he replied with, in a gruff tone as he turned to the boys, snarling at them before leaning against the wall, keeping his eye on them.

Kagome smiled softly, satisfied with her mate's reaction and obedience, then turned to the window, trying as best she could to find a stable position. The boys watched her, sniggering and laughing very quietly amongst themselves, their tears fading at this very entertaining show of ineptitude for proper shooting stance. Once the trigger was pulled, and a rifle shot rang out through the room and across the silent snow covered plain outside, all laughter ceased, and they watched in mute horror as a tiny smile of self pride quirked at her lips, her mouth moving silently as she slowly tracked target after target, keeping her shots spread out, as not to attract too much attention to her position.

Minutes passed in silence, only interrupted by her soft muttering as she reloaded the five round magazine of the rifle after she had emptied her clip, the series of bangs finally having ended, to be replaced with the light tinkles of clinking metal. She looked up to Inuyasha, smiling to herself. As she crawled out away from the window, then rose, looking to the open doorway. "Let's get moving, I think we've been spott-" Her voice was drowned out by the sudden eruption of chattering from a machine gun not too far off, the window suddenly filling with lead as fire rained down on it, making her drop to the ground, Inuyasha quickly following suit. "We gotta get out of here!" she cried, looking to the three young soldiers, taking one of their hands, and tugging. "Lets move it!" she shouted, pulling him out of the room and into the hallway, followed by Inuyasha. The other two soldiers just stared at each other for a moment, then ran out after them as quickly as they could, leaving the weapons they had taken such good care of behind them under the linen sheet.

They rocketed down the stairs, and just as their feet hit the snow outside, the room they had been in took an 88mm shell, the front side of the house blowing off in an incredible eruption of smoke and debris. This cataclysmic event sent all five of them to the ground, Inuyasha sprawling face first into the powder, his weapon slipping from his grasp. The oldest of the boys was up in an instant, and dove for the dropped weapon, rolling to his side, the barrel now sighted in on Inuyasha's face.

He froze, everything he knew about, his nights with Kagome, every "I love you" they had ever exchanged, flitting through his mind as his body acted instinctively. He rolled to his side, then quickly gained his footing as he drew his sword and slashed, feeling a little bit of resistance, then a clean follow through.

The boy's eyes were wide as he watched the front half of his weapon fall to the ground with a clatter, just the tiniest bit of his hand being sliced off in the gut reaction. He cried out, falling back to the snow, looking up at the man who was now on his feet, snarling down at him. "you little bastard!" he shouted, drawing back his fist and slamming it to his face, making the boy's arms give out from under him, and forcing his back to ram down into the powder, making it fluff up around his body.

The enraged half demon reached down, grabbing him by the collar, ready to throttle him a little more, before Kagome's hand found his shoulder again, making his tension ease immediately. "Sweety," she whispered, "We have to get going!" Her voice was a little frantic, her eyes searching for a place to hide and continue shooting from to slow the advance.

Inuyasha nodded slowly, picking up his destroyed Thompson and running quickly down the street, the perimeter of the town starting to receive more and more shells as they ran, finding a field hospital. It was a very ornate place, very old and made of dark stone. It had withstood bombardment and all the punishment that the blonde haired people could give the structure. A large white sheet, or supposed to be white, now soiled a light grey with all of the soot and ash and dust, emblazoned with a red cross hung over the entrance, waving in the light wind that was now blowing through the town streets. One ear popped out of his hair taking in the sounds around him. The chattering of the terrible weapons he had encountered in this time, the gut rumbling thuds of artillery pieces, the deep throaty roar of engines all around, from all around the town. But above all of that… were the screams of men… crying for water, mother… anything to make the pain go away… some just crying, "Help me! Help me for God sakes! PLEASE!" A thought hit him now that made his thoughts stop cold. "With Naraku back in Kagome's time… will this be what we come back to find?" He shook his head pulling the boys along with them, looking very frustrated, and a little scared as they walked past filled litters, some men missing arms, legs, feet, hands, fingers and toes. Some were frozen through and through, solid as ice and blue as icebergs.

The smell coming from the place was almost unbearable, so much blood, and death… just then Kagome doubled over and vomited, the soft white snow stained a horrible looking yellow with her sick.


End file.
